Indonesia, East Timor flood death toll surges 150

At least 157 people have been killed in Indonesia and neighboring East Timor with dozens more still missing after a tropical cyclone battered the Southeast Asian nations, leaving thousands homeless, authorities said Tuesday.

Indonesia’s disaster management agency said it had recorded 130 deaths in a cluster of remote islands near East Timor, where another 27 have been officially listed as dead.

Search and rescue teams in Indonesia were racing to find more than 70 people still missing and using diggers to clear mountains of debris.

The storm swept buildings in some villages down a mountainside and to the shore of the ocean on Lembata Island.

Authorities there said they were scrambling to shelter evacuees while trying to prevent any spread of COVID-19.

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