The death toll from devastating flash floods that swept across Indonesia’s Bali and Flores islands has risen to 19, officials confirmed on Thursday, with at least five others still missing.
Days of torrential rain beginning late Tuesday triggered floods and landslides in seven districts across Bali, a major international tourist hub. Abdul Muhari, spokesperson for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, said 14 deaths had been recorded on the island, up from nine reported the previous day, while two people remain unaccounted for.
More than 500 residents were forced to flee their homes, with schools, mosques, and village halls converted into temporary shelters. “Officers are still carrying out emergency response efforts such as searching for victims and managing floods and landslides that have impacted the public,” Abdul said in a statement.
On Flores island, the toll from a flash flood in Nagekeo district rose to five after rescuers recovered the body of a young child. Three others are still missing, according to local search and rescue chief Fathur Rahman. Excavators and thermal drones are being deployed in the ongoing search operation.
While skies cleared on Thursday in Bali’s capital, Denpasar, meteorologists warned that moderate rain could return to the province between Friday and Monday. The archipelago nation, which experiences an annual monsoon between November and April, is increasingly vulnerable to severe flooding, landslides, and other extreme weather events worsened by climate change.
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Environmental group 350.org described the latest disaster as a stark reminder of the global climate crisis. “We urge President Prabowo to ensure that Indonesia has an ambitious emissions reduction goal and a concrete plan to transition to 100 percent renewable energy,” said field organiser Suriadi Darmoko.
Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest economy, is due to submit its updated emissions reduction plan to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change later this year.
Recent months have seen similar disasters across the country: in March, floods and landslides in Java killed three and left five missing, while in January, 25 lives were lost in Central Java during heavy monsoon rains.