“Asia is very, very vulnerable to flooding,” Ms Nullis said, explaining that flooding consistently tops the list of climate hazards in the region, according to the WMO’s annual State of the Climate reports.
However, he said tropical cyclones like Senyar, which last week caused “torrential rain and widespread flooding and landslides” in northern Sumatra in Indonesia, peninsular Malaysia and southern Thailand, are rare this close to the equator.
“It’s not something we see very often and it means the impacts are magnified because local communities… don’t have experience with this,” she stressed.
Hundreds of dead
The UN weather agency spokesman cited Tuesday’s figures from Indonesia’s National Disaster Office, which indicated 604 dead, 464 people missing and 2,600 injured. In total, around 1.5 million people have been affected in Indonesia and more than 570,000 have been displaced.
As for Vietnam, Ms Nullis said the South Asian nation has been “battered for weeks” and is “bracing for even heavier rain”.
“The exceptional rains of recent weeks have flooded historic sites and popular tourist centers and caused massive damage,” he said.
1.79 meters of rain in one day
In late October, a weather station in central Vietnam recorded a national 24-hour rainfall record of 1,739 millimeters, which Ms Nullis described as “really huge”.
“It’s the second-highest known total anywhere in the world for 24-hour rainfall,” he said.
This exceptionally high value is currently subject to a formal WMO extremes assessment committee. According to the agency, a value greater than 1,700 mm would constitute a record for the northern hemisphere and Asia.
Ricardo Pires, spokesman for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), described what he called a “rapidly evolving humanitarian emergency” in Sri Lanka after Cyclone Ditwah made landfall on the country’s east coast last week, affecting some 1.4 million people, including 275,000 children.
“With communications disrupted and roads blocked, the actual number of children affected is likely even higher,” Pires warned.. “Homes have been razed, entire communities have been isolated and the essential services that children depend on, such as water, healthcare and schooling, have been severely affected.”
The UNICEF spokesperson highlighted that displacement has forced families to take refuge in unsafe and overcrowded shelters, while flooding and damaged water systems are increasing the risks of disease outbreaks.
“The needs far exceed the resources available at this time,” he insisted, in a call for additional humanitarian funding and support for the most vulnerable.
Commenting on the intensity of the devastating weather events, Ms. Nullis of the WMO explained that rising temperatures “increase the potential risk of more extreme precipitation because a warmer atmosphere retains more moisture.”
“That is the law of physics… we are seeing more extreme precipitation and we will continue to do so in the future,” he concluded.