Death toll rises from floods and landslides in Indonesia and East Timor

Over 113 people have died and dozens are still missing after flash floods and landslides hit Indonesia and neighbouring East Timor, turning small communities into wastelands of mud and uprooted trees.

A tropical cyclone causing the damage is expected to continue affecting the Southeast Asian nations for days while moving south toward Australia.

At least 86 deaths were reported on several islands in Indonesia's West and East Nusa Tenggara provinces, while 71 others were missing, after the cyclone brought flash floods, landslides and strong winds amid heavy rain over the weekend, disaster agency BNPB said.

Relief efforts were hampered by power outages, blocked roads covered in thick mud and debris, as well as the remoteness of the area on an island that can only be reached by sea which is now surrounded by high waves, said the agency’s spokesperson, Raditya Jati.

The rains also caused solidified lava to tumble down the slopes of Ili Lewotolok volcano and hit several villages. That disaster on Lembata island killed at least 67 people buried under tons of solid lava, Lembata district chief Eliaser Yentji Sunur said at a news conference. The lava was left after the volcano erupted in November.

READ MORE: Thousands evacuated as Indonesia volcano erupts

In East Timor, which shares the Timor island with Indonesia, at least 27 people were killed by landslides, flash floods and a falling tree, while 7,000 were displaced, its government said.

Sparked by torrential rain, the deluge and subsequent landslides sent thousands fleeing into shelters as dams overflowed and their homes were submerged.

Mud and continued extreme weather have made it difficult for rescue workers to reach trapped survivors.

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.

READ MORE: Indonesia flash floods kill dozens, toll expected to rise

At least 86 people have been killed in Indonesia, with another 71 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.

In Indonesia's remote East Flores municipality, mud has washed over homes, bridges and roads, while strong waves have prevented search teams from accessing the hardest-hit areas.

Images from Indonesia's search and rescue agency showed workers digging up mud-covered corpses before placing them in body bags.

On Lembata, an island east of Flores, parts of some villages were swept down a mountainside and carried to the shore of the ocean.

READ MORE: Massive floods kill several in Indonesia's capital

Soon after flash floods began tearing into resident Basir Langoday's district in the early morning hours, he heard screams for help from a nearby home covered in rubble.

"There were four of them inside. Three survived but the other one didn't make it," he told reporters.

Langoday and his friends scrambled to try and save the trapped man before he was crushed to death.

"He said 'hurry, I can't hold on any longer," Langoday added.

Shortages of medicine, food and blankets

Indonesian President Joko Widodo expressed his "deepest condolences" over the devastation.

"I understand the deep sorrow suffered by our brothers and sisters because of this disaster," he said in a nationwide address.

Widodo said he ordered his Cabinet ministers and the chiefs of the military, police and disaster agency to carry out emergency response measures as quickly as possible.

Thousands have flocked to temporary shelters, where there are shortages of medicine, food and blankets, said Alfons Hada Bethan, head of the East Flores disaster agency.

Pounding rains challenged efforts to find any survivors.

"We suspect many people are buried but it's not clear how many are missing," Bethan said.

READ MORE: Indonesia evacuates thousands of people from flood-hit West Java

EU: Ready to offer assistance

The European Union said it was ready to offer assistance to poverty-stricken East Timor, officially known as Timor-Leste.

"The catastrophic floods come at a time when Timor-Leste is working hard to contain the spread of Covid-19 among its population, putting a considerable additional strain both on resources and on the Timorese people," the EU said.

Some 2,500 people had been evacuated in East Timor.

Pounding rains challenged efforts to find any survivors.

"We suspect many people are buried but it's not clear how many are missing," Bethan said.

Among those left homeless by the disaster was mother-of four Epifania Gomes, who took shelter with her husband and family on the porch of a locked church near Dili.

"It's hard to find clean water. We haven't bathed because there's no shower or toilet, so we had to defecate in the bushes," she told AFP.

In Lembata, local officials were forced to deploy heavy equipment to reopen the roads.

High waves, strong winds and heavy rains

Images from the island showed barefoot locals wading through mud and past collapsed houses to evacuate victims on makeshift stretchers.

Fatal landslides and flash floods are common across the Southeast Asian archipelago during the rainy season.

January saw flash floods hit the Indonesian town of Sumedang in West Java, killing 40 people.

Tropical Cyclone Seroja has produced high waves, strong winds and heavy rains for the past three days and its effects are expected to last until Friday, said Dwikorita Karnawati, head of Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency.

She warned that the cyclone could trigger waves up to 4 metres (more than 13 feet) on Sumba, Flores and Rote islands in East Nusa Tenggara province and up to 6 metres (19.6 feet) in the southern part of the province and in the Banda Sea and Indian Ocean.

Authorities were still collecting information about the full scale of casualties and damage in the affected areas, Jati said.

Seasonal rains frequently cause flooding and landslides in Indonesia, an archipelago of 17,000 islands where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile flood plains.

Australian forecasters have warned residents in Western Australia state’s far north that the tropical cyclone was intensifying and moving toward them.

Seroja, or lotus flower, formed early Monday morning in Indonesian waters and was moving southwest, Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology said. It’s not expected to affect Australian communities for the next 48 hours, but residents were urged to monitor forecasts.

READ MORE: Heavy flooding in Indonesia forces over 1,000 to flee their homes

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