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PortuguêsAt least 15 dead, 6 missing as severe flooding hits Bali and East Nusa Tenggara. Military rescue operations ongoing amid destroyed infrastructure and challenging conditions.
Catastrophic Flooding Ravages Indonesian Islands
At least fifteen people have died and six remain missing after torrential rains triggered devastating floods across Indonesia's popular tourist destination Bali and the East Nusa Tenggara archipelago. The disaster, which began on Monday, has caused widespread destruction with rivers overflowing, villages buried under debris, and massive landslides.
Rescue Operations Under Challenging Conditions
Military personnel are using rubber boats to rescue children and elderly residents who were forced to climb onto rooftops to escape rising floodwaters that reached up to 2.5 meters in some areas. Search and rescue efforts are hampered by severe weather conditions and destroyed or blocked roads throughout the affected regions.
'We found the bodies of a mother and her child buried under a thick layer of mud today,' reported a rescue worker at the scene. 'Earlier, three family members were discovered dead after their entire house was swept away by the powerful currents.'
Infrastructure Damage and Emergency Response
The flooding has submerged thousands of homes and buildings across Bali, destroyed shops, and damaged critical infrastructure including roads and bridges. Authorities have cut off water and electricity supplies as a precautionary measure, forcing hospitals, hotels, restaurants, and other public facilities to operate on backup generators.
According to climate experts from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, extreme weather events like these are becoming more frequent and intense due to climate change, particularly affecting tropical regions and island nations.
Regional Climate Context
This disaster follows similar catastrophic flooding events across Asia in recent months, including over 300 deaths in India and Pakistan in August and significant casualties from heavy rainfall in Beijing during July. The pattern aligns with scientific predictions of increased extreme weather events in Southeast Asia due to global warming trends.
