Record-breaking rains, back-to-back storms, and massive floods are tearing through parts of Southeast and South Asia, killing hundreds and forcing huge numbers of people from their homes, United Nations (UN) agencies warned. Indonesia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Viet Nam are among the hardest hit, with experts linking the devastation to a dangerous mix of monsoon rains and tropical cyclone activity. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he was deeply saddened by the loss of life and expressed solidarity with affected communities.
The UN chief’s office said the Organization is in close contact with national authorities and that UN country teams stand ready to support relief and recovery efforts. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) stressed that Asia is “very, very vulnerable” to floods, which consistently top the region’s climate risk list. WMO spokesperson Clare Nullis noted that Cyclone Senyar brought “torrential rainfall and widespread flooding and landslides” to northern Sumatra, peninsular Malaysia, and southern Thailand—an unusual pattern so close to the Equator, where communities have little experience with such storms.
In Indonesia alone, authorities report at least 604 deaths, 464 people missing, and 2,600 injured, with around 1.5 million people affected and more than 570,000 displaced. Viet Nam has been “battered now for weeks” and is bracing for more heavy rain. One station in central Viet Nam recently recorded 1,739 millimetres of rain in 24 hours—one of the highest totals ever observed globally and potentially a new record for Asia and the Northern Hemisphere, now under review by WMO experts.
Sri Lanka is facing what UNICEF calls a “fast-moving humanitarian emergency” after Cyclone Ditwah hit the east coast, affecting some 1.4 million people, including 275,000 children. UNICEF spokesperson Ricardo Pires warned that with roads cut and communications down, many more children may be in need. Homes have been washed away, communities cut off, and essential services like water, healthcare, and schooling severely disrupted, pushing families into overcrowded shelters and raising the risk of disease outbreaks.
WMO underlined that warmer temperatures are loading the dice for more extreme rainfall because a hotter atmosphere holds more moisture. That basic law of physics, Nullis said, means the kind of “extreme” downpours now devastating parts of Asia are likely to become more frequent. UN agencies are urging increased humanitarian funding and stronger climate resilience measures to protect the region’s most vulnerable people.
