Floods in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam Have Killed Over 1,200. Here’s What to Know.
Hundreds more were still missing and millions have been displaced in the rain-drenched region, with Sri Lanka and Indonesia hit particularly hard.
At least 1,200 people have been killed in floods that have ravaged southern Asia over the past few weeks, with hundreds more still missing and millions displaced across the rain-soaked region.
The flooding has been particularly devastating in Indonesia and Sri Lanka; the Sri Lankan president said on Monday that the island nation was facing the “largest and most challenging natural disaster in our history.” At least 160 are also dead in Thailand, and about 90 in Vietnam.
Although heavy rain is common in southern Asia around this time of year, residents and officials say that these storms have been particularly destructive. This year’s monsoon season has been unusually intense, partly because of La Niña, experts say — a weather phenomenon in which strong winds push warm water across the Pacific toward East Asia, creating conditions for storms to form.
Scientists have concluded that climate change also makes tropical cyclones worse because warmer water provides more of the energy that fuels the storms.
