Nearly 100 Dead In Indonesia, East Timor Floods, Dozens Missing

Nearly 100 dead in Indonesia, East Timor floods, dozens missing

Lembata, Indonesia, April 5 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 5th Apr, 2021 ) :Tropical cyclone Seroja pounded Indonesia and East Timor Monday after torrential rains triggered floods and landslides that have killed nearly 100 people and left dozens more missing.

Packing heavy winds and rain, the storm heaped more misery on the Southeast Asian nations after Sunday's disaster turned small communities into wastelands of mud, uprooted trees and forced thousands of people into shelters.

Downpours are expected over the next day as the storm triggers offshore waves as high as six metres (20 feet), Indonesia's disaster agency said.

The cyclone, which was picking up strength as it moved towards the west coast of Australia, hampered efforts to reach trapped survivors.

At least 70 people have been killed in Indonesia, with another 70 missing, while 27 have died in East Timor, a tiny half-island nation of 1.3 million that lies between Indonesia and Australia.

Its capital Dili was inundated, with the front of its presidential palace transformed into a mud pit.