JAKARTA, 6 April, 2021, (TON): Floods and landslides triggered by tropical cyclone Seroja in a cluster of islands in southeast Indonesia and East Timor have killed 113 people, with many still unaccounted for and thousands displaced, officials said on Monday. 

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.  

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.  

On Lembata island, authorities feared bodies had been washed away.  

Thomas Ola Langoday, deputy head of Lembata district government said, “We are using rubber boats to find bodies at sea. In several villages, flash floods hit while people were sleeping.”  

About 30,000 people have been impacted by floods in Indonesia, some already taking shelter in evacuation centres, but rescue operations have been made difficult after five bridges collapsed and falling trees blocked some roads, BNPB spokesman Raditya Jati said.  

According to local authorities, continuing storm had also halted evacuations in some places.  

Hundreds of houses and other facilities such as a solar power plant were damaged, BNPB said. Ships and motor boats sank as the cyclone set off waves as high as 6 metres. 

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

The disaster agency has estimated that 125 million Indonesians, nearly half of the country's population live in areas at risk of landslides.