Britons have been issued an urgent travel warning as floods and heavy rainfall have left hundreds dead across Asia.
Millions of people across south and southeast Asia have been impacted by deadly storms in recent days.
In Sri Lanka, Cyclone Ditwah has left 212 people dead and 218 missing, officials said on Sunday, as flood waters breached a dam and rescue operations continued into a fourth day.
The Foreign Office (FCDO) has urged Britons planning travel to India to take “necessary precautions to stay safe” as the cyclone is expected to move from Sri Lanka and barrel towards southern parts of country.
The FCDO stated: “Cyclone Ditwah is expected to bring extremely heavy rainfall to coastal Tamil Nadu, including Chennai on November 30 and December 1.”
It added that tropical cyclones can cause damage to building and bring down trees, as well as power and telephone lines.
In Sri Lanka, nearly a million people are impacted by heavy rains and floods brought on by the cyclone, forcing nearly 200,000 people into 1,275 shelters, the Disaster Management Centre said in a statement.
More than 120 people were airlifted to safety in helicopters by the air force after water breached the dam of the Mavil Aru Reservoir in the eastern part of the island.
Nearly a million people are impacted by heavy rains and floods in Sri Lanka
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REUTERS
About another 2,000 people were moved to higher ground for safety, the military said in a statement.
Dozens of families are trapped in their homes by flood waters in the commercial capital of Colombo, which is one of the worst affected places.
600 people have meanwhile been left dead in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand from floods and landslides caused by torrential rains across the three countries.
It comes after a rare tropical storm formed in the Malacca Strait brought heavy rains and wind gusts for a week.
600 have been left dead in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand from floods and landslides
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REUTERS
There were 435 dead in Indonesia, 170 in Thailand, and three deaths reported in Malaysia.
Rescue and relief officials in the Southeast Asian countries were still trying to get access to many flood-hit areas on Sunday even as flood waters receded and tens of thousands of people were evacuated across the three countries.
Over four million people have been affected – nearly three million in southern Thailand and 1.1 million in western Indonesia, according to official statistics.
Many parts of Indonesia were left cut off due to blocked roads, while damage to telecommunications infrastructure has hampered communication.
Rescue and relief efforts are underway in Indonesia
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REUTERS
Relief and rescue teams used helicopters to deliver aid to people in areas that could not be reached by road.
There have been reports of people looting supply lines as they grow desperate for relief in other areas, officials said on Saturday.
In Thailand, the city of Hat Yai received 335 mm (13 inches) of rain last Friday, its highest single-day tally in 300 years, amid days of heavy downpours.
In neighbouring Malaysia, there are still about 18,700 people in evacuation centres, according to the country’s national disaster management agency.
