BANDA ACEH, Indonesia/COLOMBO, Sri Lanka: Governments and aid groups in Indonesia and Sri Lanka worked Tuesday (Dec 2) to rush aid to hundreds of thousands stranded by deadly flooding that has killed more than 1,300 people in four countries.

Torrential monsoon season deluges paired with two separate tropical cyclones last week dumped heavy rain across Sri Lanka and parts of Indonesia's Sumatra, southern Thailand and northern Malaysia.

AFP analysis of US weather data showed several flood-hit regions across Asia experienced their highest November rainfall totals since 2012.

The floodwaters have now largely receded, but the devastation means hundreds of thousands of people are living in shelters and struggling to secure clean water and food.

In Indonesia's Aceh, one of the worst-affected regions, people told AFP that anyone who could afford to was stockpiling.

"Road access is mostly cut off in flood-affected areas," 29-year-old Erna Mardhiah said as she joined a long queue at a petrol station in Banda Aceh.

"People are worried about running out of fuel," she added from the line she had been waiting in for two hours. The pressure has affected prices.

"Most things are already sky-high... chillies alone are up to 300,000 rupiah (US$18) per kilo, so that's probably why people are panic-buying," she said.

On Monday, Indonesia's government said it was sending 34,000 tonnes of rice and 6.8 million litres of cooking oil to the three worst-affected provinces, Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra.

"There can be no delays," Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman said. But Alfian, a resident in Banda Aceh, told AFP the government had been "very slow, especially in ensuring basic necessities".

Food shortage risk

Even areas that were not directly affected were seeing shortages because of blocked transport links.

In Dolok Sanggul in North Sumatra, one resident told AFP he had been lining up since Monday afternoon for fuel, and spent the night sleeping in his car.

"When we were about to enter the gas station, the fuel ran out," he said.

Aid groups warned that local markets were running out of essential supplies and prices had tripled.

"Communities across Aceh are at severe risk of food shortages and hunger if supply lines are not reestablished in the next seven days," said charity group Islamic Relief, which has sent a shipment of 12 tonnes of food aboard an Indonesian navy vessel.

By Tuesday afternoon, the toll across Sumatra had risen to 712, but the number of missing was also rising, with 500 people still listed.

And 1.2 million people have been forced from their homes, the disaster agency said.

Survivors have described terrifying waves of water that arrived without warning.

In East Aceh, Zamzami said the floodwaters had been "unstoppable, like a tsunami wave".

"We can't explain how big the water seemed, it was truly extraordinary," said the 33-year-old, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.

The weather system that inundated Indonesia also brought heavy rain to southern Thailand, where at least 176 people were killed.

Across the border in Malaysia, two more people were killed.

Colombo floodwaters recede

A separate storm brought heavy rains across all of Sri Lanka, triggering flash floods and deadly landslides that killed at least 465 people.

Another 366 remain missing, and an official in the central town of Welimada told local reporters he expected the toll to rise, as his staff dug through the mud looking for victims buried by landslides.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has declared a state of emergency to deal with what he called the "most challenging natural disaster in our history".

Unlike his Indonesian counterpart, he has called for international aid.

Sri Lanka's air force, backed by counterparts from India and Pakistan, has been evacuating stranded residents and delivering food and other supplies.

Some 1.7 million people were affected by the floods and landslides, officials said.

In the capital Colombo, floodwaters were slowly subsiding on Tuesday.

Rains have eased across the country, but landslide alerts remain in force across most of the hardest-hit central region, officials said. - AFP

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 2 — Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) today announced that the MySawasdee train service has been cancelled following the need for post-flood safety inspections as well as track cleaning and repair work in several areas that are still not stable.

KTMB in a statement today announced the cancellation involving train No. 1004 from KL Sentral to Hat Yai and train No. 1005 from Hat Yai to KL Sentral for the period of Dec 5 to 8 and Dec 12 to 15.

At the same time, the statement stated that Thai authorities are also conducting rail infrastructure inspections and technical assessments to determine the level of safety of the route before train operations can be carried out.

“Of the 837 affected passengers, 683 passengers have not yet cancelled their tickets while 196 passengers who cancelled early are eligible to receive the remaining fare refund,” according to the statement.

For online ticket purchases, passengers can cancel via the KITS app by selecting MyTicket → Upcoming Ticket → Refund and will receive a full fare refund immediately into KTM Wallet for future ticket purchases.

The next MySawasdee service schedule and dates will be announced from time to time depending on developments and the situation in Hat Yai.

KTMB also apologises for the inconvenience and passengers can contact KTMB Call Centre at 03-9779 1200 for further information. — Bernama

KUALA LUMPUR: Cuaca negara dijangka kekal baik untuk tempoh beberapa hari lagi, namun episod hujan lebat Monsun Timur Laut (MTL) seterusnya boleh berlaku pada bila-bila masa bergantung kepada luruan monsun dan kemasukan udara lembap.

Ketua Pengarah Jabatan Meteorologi Malaysia (METMalaysia), Dr Mohd Hisham Mohd Anip, berkata tiada sela masa khusus antara satu episod hujan lebat dengan episod berikutnya, namun amaran akan dikeluarkan sekurang-kurangnya tiga hari lebih awal jika terdapat tanda-tanda cuaca buruk.

"Selain itu, kekuatan episod seterusnya turut bergantung kepada keadaan atmosfera semasa, termasuk kewujudan kawasan tekanan rendah serta pola angin dan kelembapan.

"Kami (METMalaysia) menggunakan model ramalan cuaca berangka (NWP) untuk mengesan perubahan awal sebelum diterjemahkan kepada ramalan oleh pakar," katanya kepada media.

Dr Mohd Hisham berkata, perkembangan itu berlaku ketika Malaysia berdepan pelbagai bentuk ribut yang boleh berlaku sepanjang tahun, khususnya ketika peralihan monsun.

Katanya, ribut petir kekal kejadian paling lazim di Malaysia dan sering berlaku pada waktu petang hingga awal malam.

"Pembentukan awan kumulonimbus berskala besar pula boleh mencetuskan fenomena lebih ekstrem termasuk puting beliung dan hujan batu.

"Fenomena garis badai juga semakin ketara, iaitu sistem ribut petir memanjang sehingga ratusan kilometer yang terbentuk di laut sebelum bergerak ke daratan, terutama di pantai barat Semenanjung, utara Sarawak dan barat Sabah pada awal pagi," katanya.

Beliau berkata, dalam keadaan tertentu, negara turut berisiko mengalami ribut tropika yang terbentuk berhampiran perairan Malaysia seperti Ribut Tropika Senyar yang membadai Selangor dan Negeri Sembilan pada 28 November lalu.

"Bagaimanapun, Malaysia masih dianggap selamat daripada laluan taufan besar kerana kedudukan hampir garisan khatulistiwa menyebabkan daya Coriolis lemah dan menyukarkan ribut tropika untuk membesar menjadi taufan.

"Lazimnya, ribut tropika dari barat Lautan Pasifik melintasi Filipina ke Laut China Selatan dan berakhir di Vietnam, namun laluan terus ke Malaysia jarang berlaku.

"METMalaysia akan sentiasa memantau keadaan cuaca secara berterusan dan amaran hujan lebat berterusan akan dikeluarkan apabila ada tanda-tanda cuaca buruk akan berlaku," katanya.

 KUCHING: The Sarawak Social Welfare Department has identified 658 temporary relief centres statewide in the event of floods during the ongoing North-East Monsoon.

State Women, Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development Minister Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah said the department had also stocked up on essentials for flood victims at its depot in Samarahan and mini depots in Mukah, Kapit, Miri and Lawas.

Sarawak has not experienced floods so far during the current monsoon season.

Separately, Fatimah said the state government allocated RM295.5mil for monthly welfare assistance this year.

As of October, RM249.2mil had been distributed to 56,660 recipients.

"Starting this year, the Social Welfare Department has improved governance and efficiency by integrating the social welfare assistance management and Sarawak accounting systems.

"This has shortened the process of paying out the assistance from 14 days to only five days," she said.