Colombo, Dec 1: Two powerful storms -- Cyclone Senyar and Cyclone Ditwah -- have carved a trail of destruction across the Indian Ocean region, killing more than 1,000 people and displacing tens of thousands across Indonesia, Thailand and Sri Lanka, while also triggering heavy rainfall and a few deaths along India’s southern coast.

Cyclone Senyar originated as a deep depression over the Strait of Malacca last week before intensifying and moving towards Indonesia and Malaysia. The Hong Kong Observatory (HKO), cited in a Bloomberg report, said the system later dissipated over the South China Sea. Almost immediately after Senyar weakened, another system -- Cyclone Ditwah -- began forming over the southwest Bay of Bengal, moving towards Sri Lanka and India.

Indonesia and Thailand worst hit
Senyar brought catastrophic rainfall to Indonesia’s Sumatra island, where torrential downpours triggered devastating floods and landslides. At least 502 people have died, and 508 remain missing, according to Indonesia’s national disaster agency. Roads, bridges and communication networks were destroyed, severely hampering rescue efforts. Entire villages were cut off, prompting authorities to deploy helicopters and naval vessels to deliver supplies. Residences were submerged up to their rooftops, with locals describing the flooding as the “worst in our lifetime.”

The Indonesian government has been conducting aerial cloud-seeding operations to reduce further rainfall. The HKO noted that Senyar was the first cyclone since Typhoon Vamei in 2001 to form in the Strait of Malacca -- a region where cyclones rarely develop due to the weak Coriolis force near the equator.

In Thailand, flooding caused by Senyar’s rains killed at least 176 people and affected more than 20 lakh households. Economic losses have crossed 23.6 billion baht (about ₹6,560 crore), heavily impacting hotels, restaurants, and rubber and palm oil production.

Ditwah devastates Sri Lanka; brushes India’s coast
Cyclone Ditwah, which made landfall in Sri Lanka on Friday, unleashed severe flooding that left 334 people dead, while 370 remain missing as of Sunday. Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake called it the country’s “largest and most challenging natural disaster” in recent history.

Also Read: Cyclone Ditwah Leaves 334 Dead and 370 Missing in Sri Lanka

Ditwah moved close to Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and south Andhra Pradesh, bringing heavy rainfall and prompting red alerts from the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Although the cyclone did not make landfall in India, it caused intense showers, leading to three rain-related deaths in Tamil Nadu over the past 24 hours.

A third storm on the horizon
Meanwhile, Typhoon Koto is currently hovering off the east coast of Vietnam and is expected to weaken gradually. However, it may still bring additional rainfall to central and north-central Vietnam, areas already battered by historic flooding and more than $3 billion in recent damages.

Meteorologists expect rainfall to return to normal levels across most affected countries by midweek, with a drier pattern likely over Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra by mid-December.