Over one million get displaced throughout Asia due to floods

(MENAFN) Recent floods and landslides across Asia have claimed more than 1,700 lives and displaced over a million people, sweeping through densely populated urban areas, river valleys, and deforested hillsides. Experts warn that the scale of destruction underscores the growing threat of extreme weather events amid a warming climate.

Indonesia and Sri Lanka were hit hardest, with entire districts submerged, transportation networks disrupted, and economic losses reaching billions of dollars. Hundreds of people remain unaccounted for.

Specialists point to weak early warning systems, aging or inadequate infrastructure, rapid urban expansion, and the removal of natural protective barriers as factors that have intensified the impact of these disasters.

The Asia-Pacific region is particularly vulnerable to severe storms, with the World Meteorological Organization noting it experiences the world’s most intense and frequent cyclones. Secretary-General Celeste Saulo highlighted “record-breaking rainfall, storm surges and floods” that regularly displace millions and inflict massive economic damage.

Of the fatalities reported in the latest floods, approximately 836 occurred in Indonesia and over 600 in Sri Lanka. On Sumatra Island alone, damages are estimated to exceed $4 billion, while Sri Lanka has requested $200 million in emergency aid from the International Monetary Fund to cope with the crisis.

Scientists warn that these extreme events may reflect a broader shift in climate patterns across South and Southeast Asia. “Climate change is not irrelevant,” said Daanish Mustafa, a professor of critical geography at King’s College London. “One promise of climate change is that all historical trends, averages and normals are irrelevant. What will be the new normal? We don’t know. Are these floods part of the new normal? Probably.”

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