PIDIE, Indonesia, Indonesia — The death toll from devastating floods and landslides in Southeast Asia climbed past 400 on Saturday as clean-up and search-and-rescue operations got underway in Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia.

 

Heavy monsoon rain overwhelmed swaths of the three countries this week and left thousands stranded, many on rooftops awaiting rescue.

 

Rescuers in Indonesia were struggling to reach the worst-affected areas of Sumatra island, where more than 270 people were still missing.

 

Flooding and landslides in Indonesia have killed more than 300 people, according to the latest figures from the disaster authority on Saturday.

 

Of those, 166 were in North Sumatra province, 90 were in West Sumatra, and 47 were in Aceh.

 

Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated, although access to many parts of those three provinces remains cut off, National Disaster agency head Suharyanto said.

 

He told a news conference that a cloud seeding operation had begun in West Sumatra to reduce the rainfall, most of which had already subsided by Saturday.

 

Novia, a resident of Pidie in Aceh, said the water in his house had receded "but the entire place is covered in mud".

 

"Some of the items in the house are damaged or have fallen, and we haven't been able to clean them yet.

 

"We, the community, are working together to clean up the mud," the 30-year-old told AFP.

 

FirdaYusra said he left his home with his wife and child to take shelter in a nearby mosque with around a thousand others.

 

"Here, we eat whatever is available," he said.

 

Thailand clean-up

 

Water levels reached three metres in Songkhla province in southern Thailand and killed 162 people in one of the worst floods in a decade.

 

Workers at one hospital in hard-hit Hat Yai moved bodies into refrigerated trucks after the morgue exceeded capacity.

 

Thai Prime Minister AnutinCharnvirakulapologised for the destruction caused by the floods.

 

"Whenever there are losses, deaths, or injuries, it's always the prime minister's fault," he said on Saturday.

 

"I will use all my expertise and dedication to improve the situation," he said, announcing a two-week timeframe for the district's cleanup.

 

The Thai government rolled out relief measures for those affected by the flooding, including compensation of up to two million baht ($62,000) for households that lost family members.

 

More than 40,000 people have taken shelter in evacuation centres, according to WanchanaSawasdee, spokesman of the flood relief operations centre, although "some people have already returned home".

 

Malaysia's foreign affairs ministry said more than 6,000 Malaysians who were stranded by severe flooding in Hat Yai had been rescued.

 

Two people were killed in Malaysia after floods left stretches of northern Perlis state underwater.

 

- Public criticism -

 

Shop owner RachaneRemsringam picked through rubbish strewn between the aisles of his general goods store as floodwaters in southern Thailand receded, lamenting hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses.

 

There has been growing public criticism of Thailand's flood response, and two local officials have been suspended over their alleged failures.

 

An MP from the opposition People's Party criticised the administration, saying it "wrongly estimated the situation" and made "errors in handling the flood crisis".

 

The annual monsoon season, typically between June and September, often brings heavy rain, triggering landslides and flash floods.

 

A tropical storm has exacerbated conditions, and the tolls in Indonesia and Thailand rank among the highest in floods in those countries in recent years.

 

Climate change has affected storm patterns, including the duration and intensity of the season, leading to heavier rainfall, flash flooding and stronger wind gusts.

 

"Since I was a child until now at 30 years old, this is the worst flood that has ever occurred in our village," said Novia in Aceh.

 

"There were floods before... but it wasn't like this."