The death toll from floods and landslides that hit Indonesia's large island of Sumatra rose even higher today, reaching 950 dead and 5.000 injured, the Indonesian disaster management agency (BNPB) announced.
The disaster hit three provinces in Sumatra, where homes, roads, communication networks and public infrastructure were swept away.
274 people are still missing, the BNPB also stressed.
In total, more than 1.800 people have died in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam due to a series of tropical storms and monsoon rains, which resulted in landslides and flash floods.
The cost of reconstruction in the three Sumatran provinces could reach 51,82 trillion rupiah ($3,1 billion), estimated last night Suharyanto, the head of the BNPB, who like many of his compatriots uses only one name.
Aceh province, on the western tip of the island, which had been plunged into mourning when it was hit by the 2004 earthquake and tsunami, was the hardest hit, with 386 deaths and hundreds of thousands forcibly displaced.
The province is facing "shortages in everything, especially medical personnel. We are short of doctors," Aceh's governor, Muzakir Manaf, told reporters.
He added that there is a great need for "medicines" and other items.
In much of Asia, the monsoon season is currently underway, which is absolutely essential for rice crops but often causes flooding.
According to experts, climate change is causing much heavier rains, as the warmer atmosphere holds more moisture and higher sea surface temperatures intensify storms and extreme weather events.
In Indonesia, environmentalists, experts, and even the government noted that deforestation was among the main causes of devastating landslides and flash floods in Sumatra.
Source: protothema.gr
