Asia flood death toll surpasses 1,500 as calls grow to fight deforestation

By ADE YUANDHA and NINIEK KARMINI PADANG Indonesia AP The death toll from last week s catastrophic floods and landslides in parts of Asia surged past Thursday as rescue teams raced to reach survivors isolated by the mishap with hundreds of people still unaccounted for across the region Related Articles WhatsApp faces European antitrust study over artificial intelligence Trump hosts the leaders of Congo and Rwanda to sign a key deal for peace in eastern Congo Olympic flame for Milan Cortina Winter Games arrives in Italy following handover in Greece Putin says there are points he can t agree to in the US proposal to end Russia s war in Ukraine In the current era in History December Pizzagate shooting The latest figure came as meteorologists warned of renewed rainfall across North Sumatra West Sumatra and Aceh in coming days sparking fears of further devastation in areas already reeling from deadly floods The tragedy was compounded by warnings that decades of deforestation caused by unchecked enhancement mining and palm oil plantations may have worsened the devastation Calls grew for the administration to act We need the authorities to investigate and fix forest management disclosed Rangga Adiputra a -year-old facilitator whose home in West Sumatra was swept away The hills above his village on the outskirts of Padang city had been scarred by illegal logging We don t want this costly accident to happen again he reported Leadership commented people were validated dead in Indonesia in Sri Lanka and in Thailand as well as three in Malaysia Various villages in Indonesia and Sri Lanka remained buried under mud and debris with people still unaccounted for in both countries Thousands reportedly faced severe shortages of food and clean water in cut off areas The floods and landslides washed away roads and bridges and knocked out telecommunications leaving multiple communities inaccessible This aerial photo taken from a national tragedy mitigation agency s helicopter during an aerial aid distribution shows an area affected by floods in Pidie Jaya Aceh province Indonesia Thursday Dec AP Photo Reza Saifullah Indonesian television manifested images of huge amounts of felled timber carried downstream in North Sumatra West Sumatra and Aceh provinces The leading Indonesian environmental group WALHI commented that decades of deforestation driven by mining palm oil plantations and illegal logging stripped away natural defenses that once absorbed rainfall and stabilized soil The tragedy was not just nature s fury it was amplified by decades of deforestation stated Rianda Purba an activist with the group Deforestation and unchecked advance have stripped Sumatra of its resilience The group recorded more than nearly acres of primary forest were lost in alone leaving Sumatra s small river basins dangerously exposed Another environmental group Global Forest Watch has commented the flood-inundated Indonesian provinces of Aceh North Sumatra and West Sumatra have since lost square miles of forest an area larger than the state of New Jersey Unless restoration begins now more lives will be lost Purba warned President Prabowo Subianto pledged strategy reforms after visiting flood-hit areas on Monday We must truly prevent deforestation and forest destruction Protecting our forests is crucial Prabowo stated This aerial photo taken from a national catastrophe mitigation agency s helicopter during an aerial aid distribution shows an area affected by floods in Pidie Jaya Aceh province Indonesia Thursday Dec AP Photo Reza Saifullah In Batang Toru the worst-hit areas in North Sumatra where seven companies operate hundreds of hectares had been cleared for gold mining and ability projects leaving slopes exposed and riverbeds choked with sediment Rivers there were swollen with runoff and timber while villages were buried or swept away Lawmakers called for the companies permits to be revoked Facing population outrage Surroundings Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq released an research into eight companies suspected of worsening the catastrophe He explained environmental permits will be reviewed and future assessments must factor in extreme rainfall scenarios Someone must be held accountable he announced The latest weather forecasts predict heavy showers and thunderstorms on Friday to Saturday with saturated soil and swollen rivers leaving communities on edge The two-day forecast signals persistent wet conditions with heavy rain expected during the day and night and thunderstorms likely in several flood-prone districts declared Teuku Faisal Fathani the Meteorology Climatology and Geophysics Agency chief For Safnida a -year-old survivor the forecast brings renewed anxiety Soldiers and residents unload relief goods from a national mishap mitigation agency s helicopter during an aerial aid distribution in a flood affected area in North Aceh Indonesia Thursday Dec AP Photo Reza Saifullah We can t expect life to unfailingly be good right I m grateful to be alive while my house collapsed in the floods she announced sitting on a thin mat in an elementary school turned evacuation shelter in Padang city on Thursday At my age I don t know if I can still survive declared Safnida who goes by a single name like a large number of Indonesians Karmini released from Jakarta Krishan Francis in Colombo Sri Lanka contributed reporting