The floods in Indonesia and East Timor have already left more than 75 dead and thousands of evacuees

More than 75 people have died and several dozen are still missing in floods and mudslides in Indonesia and East Timorlocal authorities reported Monday.

Floods and flash floods caused by torrential rains have caused chaos in the areas between the Indonesian island of Flores and East Timor, pushing thousands of people to shelters.

The flood overflowed the water tanks and flooded thousands of houses.

“We counted 55 dead, but this balance is changing, especially since there are still 42 missing people“Raditya Jati, spokesperson for the Indonesian disaster management agency, told reporters.

At least 21 people died in East Timor, according to a senior Timorese official. Most of them in Dili, the capital.

In the east of the Indonesian island of Flores, many houses, roads and bridges were covered in mud, complicating the task of rescuers trying to reach the most affected areas.

“The mud and weather conditions are a great challenge, as is the debris that accumulates and makes the search difficult,” said Djati.

Very scared inhabitants ran towards the shelters while others stayed near what was left of their houses.

“The evacuees have dispersed everywhere, there are hundreds of them in all the districts, but many people also stayed at home”Explains Alfons Hada Bethan, head of the Flores Oriental disaster management agency. “They need medicine, food, blankets.”

Rainfall complicates the situation. “We believe that there are still many people buried, but we do not know how many,” he said.

On Lembata, an island halfway between Flores and Timor, road access was cut off, forcing authorities to deploy machinery to reopen the roads. Parts of some highland villages were washed ashore by landslides.

In the images, inhabitants are seen walking barefoot, in the middle of the mud, to evacuate the victims on makeshift stretchers.

Landslides and flash floods are frequent in the Indonesian archipelago, especially in the rainy season. Environmental defenders claim that deforestation favors these catastrophes.

In January, 40 Indonesians were killed in floods in the West Javanese city of Sumedang.

The national disaster management agency estimates that 125 million Indonesians, or about half of the archipelago’s population, live in regions at risk of landslides.