Deadly Floods Sweep South Asia

Since mid-November, a disastrous tropical storm season has triggered severe flooding and landslides across South Asia—including Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam, which killed over 1,600 people. Moreover, these brutal floods displaced hundreds of thousands of individuals and impacted millions of people.

UN teams have been supporting emergency responses led by the government with food, health, water and sanitation aid, medical deployments and early recovery assessments. The cause of this powerful combination of natural disasters is a byproduct of powerful weather systems and an intense northeastern monsoon.

Additionally, climate change has aided in producing strong rainfall even in regions where storms traditionally faced lower cyclone risk. Throughout this region, close to almost 11 million people were affected, with 1.2 million forced from their homes into shelters. Moreover, 4.1 million students have had their education disrupted since mid-November, UNICEF reports.

In fact, many children are living in overcrowded evacuation centers, vulnerable to disease, malnourished and are at serious risk. UN agencies mention that the storms highlight a new era of climate-fueled disasters, with unpredictable and intense weather rampaging the Asia-Pacific region. Regarding this occurrence and what it spells out for the future, the UN writes, “Warmer ocean waters are increasing the potential for extreme rainfall, while rapid urban growth, deforestation and wetland loss are magnifying flood impacts. Even where early warnings were issued, fast-rising waters overwhelmed evacuation routes in some locations.” Evidently, climate-driven disasters will continue to keep a firm hold over Asian regions, underscoring that the impacts of climate change can already have concrete consequences. 

Read more here: 

• UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific

• Aman Kumar, Brittanica

• Lyndal Rowlands, Al Jazeera