La Nina, monsoon brew up perfect storm for Southeast Asia

Storms uprooted trees and ripped roofs across Malaysia’s capital of Kuala Lumpur on Monday night, as forecasters warned of a potentially dangerous collision between the seasonal monsoon and La Nina climate phenomenon that could dump more rain over the coming weeks. The northeast monsoon brings heavy rains and strong winds to Malaysia all the way through March, while La Nina – a Pacific Ocean climate pattern – amplifies rainfall, compounding the power of storms that hit the region. The Meteorological Department of Malaysia on Monday said that Super Typhoon Ragasa, which was headed for Hong Kong, was causing waves as high as 3.5 metres (11 feet) across the South China Sea. It warned of risks to fishers and other small boats. “We are maintaining a strong wind and rough seas warning which remains in effect until September 26,” the department said on Monday. The impact of the climate crisis, with heavier rains, more powerful storms and longer droughts, is being felt sharply across Southeast Asia. “Both the monsoon and La Niña bring more moisture into the region, which can fuel heavy rain and storms,” said Fredolin Tangang, a climate expert at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. “Meanwhile, the typhoon over the northern South China Sea can generate stronger winds which can also cause heavy rain over places like Sabah’s west coast.” At least 13 people died in Sabah, Malaysia’s easternmost territory, earlier this month when the heaviest storm in three decades battered its densely populated west coast, unleashing landslides across the mountainous region. Storm Hits KL byu/whusler inmalaysia In the Kuala Lumpur city centre on Monday, heavy rain and strong winds uprooted trees and lifted roofs. Debris blocked roads and rained on vehicles. Part of the roof of the National Stadium can be seen being peeled off as though it were paper by strong winds in social media videos. The roofs of a public housing complex southwest of the city blew off, damaging over 30 vehicles. A similar scene was recorded in the nearby upmarket Damansara Heights neighbourhood, with decades-old rain trees falling over vehicles at a commercial complex. “With La Niña, the rainfall will be 10 to 20 per cent above average. So the risk of flooding on the east coast of Malaysia and southern Thailand is higher,” said Azizan Abu Samah, a meteorologist at Universiti Malaya. “It is very difficult to forecast because a lot depends on other drivers such as how strong the monsoon surge is or whether the rainfall is nearly continuous. But we can make preparations to face the risk.” ‘Existential threat’ Thailand, Vietnam and Laos are bracing for the impact of Super Typhoon Ragasa later this week, with weather warnings in place across a northern belt of the Mekong region, which has already been hit hard by floods and heavy monsoon rains. In Thailand’s northern Chiang Mai province, the Mae Chaem River burst its banks on Tuesday, inundating riverside communities with waist high muddy waters, a situation that could be worsened as Ragasa barrels inland. In Thailand, 8 million people live in high-risk areas facing floods, drought and extreme heat, while floods in 2023 alone caused over US$700 million in damage, according to a World Bank report published on Tuesday on the country’s resilience to climate catastrophes. “Thailand’s ambition to become a high income economy is challenged due in part to its vulnerability to the impacts of climate change,” it said. “Its extensive coastline, an agricultural economy highly exposed to climate events and urban development in low lying floodplains render it highly susceptible to climate hazards.” A study last year by the Earth Observatory of Singapore said that climate change presents an “existential threat” to Southeast Asian nations. It warned that tropical cyclones might soon be larger, form closer to densely populated coastlines and linger for longer over cities like Bangkok and Yangon. Storms that form in the Indian Ocean are called cyclones, while typhoons are the term more commonly used for those occurring in the Pacific. Climate resilience will be a key talking point at the Asean leaders’ summit next month as the region contends with the intensifying human and economic impact of extreme weather. Kuala Lumpur and parts of Malaysia’s highly industrialised peninsular west coast region were severely flooded in December 2021, after Super Typhoon Rai, which killed 410 people in the Philippines, brought a month’s worth of rainfall to the region over a period of just a couple of days. A total of 74 people died across Malaysia, with more than 67,000 displaced in what was described as a “once in a century” disaster.

La Nina, monsoon brew up perfect storm for Southeast Asia

A freak storm in Malaysia might be a foretaste of more extreme weather to come because of climate change, experts warn