World: Floods and landslides have swept away the villages in Indonesia and East Timor. The rescuers have been searching for the people who were missing after the floods. The flood has killed more than 150 people and left thousands of people homeless.
The small communities were turned into wastelands of mud by the torrential rains from Tropical Cyclone Seroja and it has also uprooted the trees. The disaster management agency of Indonesia stated that it has reported about 130 deaths near East Timor. The rescue teams were using diggers to clear the mountain debris.
The authorities were trying their best to shelter evacuees while trying to prevent any spread of the deadly coronavirus. Thomas Ola Longaday, the Deputy Mayor of the area said, “These evacuees fled here with just wet clothes on their backs and nothing else”. Several people were injured in the flood. He further added, “We don’t have enough anesthesiologists and surgeons, but we’ve been promised that help will come. Many survivors have broken bones because they were hit by rocks, logs, and debris”.
During the rainy season, fatal landslides and floods are common across Indonesia. Last September, at least 11 people were killed on Borneo due to landslides. According to the environmentalists, disasters are often caused by deforestation.