Severe weather wrecks South-east Asia as 200 dead, ports shut

[KUALA LUMPUR] Severe weather disruptions hit Malaysia and the Philippines, leaving a trail of destruction among nations most vulnerable to natural disasters.

Typhoon Rai, a super typhoon before slamming into the Philippines on Thursday, left 208 dead along its path, according to local officials. More than 440,000 people were displaced by Rai, with about a million affected, Mark Timbal, spokesman of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, said in a briefing on Monday.

Across peninsular Malaysia, a weekend of torrential rainfall displaced more than 61,000 people, shuttered roads and disrupted shipping. The downpour from Dec 17 to 18 amounted to a month's average rainfall, news agency Bernama cited Environment and Water Ministry Secretary-General Zaini Ujang as saying. Rains subsided on Sunday and flood waters have receded.

Operations at Malaysia's Port Klang, Southeast Asia's second biggest, were severely affected, authorities said Saturday. Cargo delivery and vessel berthing will be delayed in the coming days, as access roads are damaged and many staff are unable to report to work.

Port authorities have said they would prioritise delivering essential goods such as food and medical supplies for now. Lenders including RHB Bank and OCBC Bank (Malaysia) are offering assistance to their affected customers.

The disruption comes days after Intel Corp unveiled a US$7.1 billion investment in Malaysia and said it expects the global chip shortage to last until 2023. The country is a major chip testing and electronics hub, and delays in shipments could add to the supply-chain snarls that have battered the world economy.

Netherland's BE Semiconductor Industries said the delays resulting from flooding at its Shah Alam production facility in Malaysia may lead to a 15 per cent to 20 per cent sequential drop in fourth-quarter revenue, exceeding the previous guidance for a 5 per cent to 15 per cent decrease.

Japan's Nihon Dempa Kogyo, a producer of quartz crystals products used in telecom and industrial equipment, said its Malaysian plant was damaged and it will need time to resume production. Malaysia's Notion VTEC Bhd. said its plant that makes computer numerical control machining has been affected. The downpour spared the world's biggest rubber gloves sector, the Malaysian Rubber Glove Manufacturers Association President Panamanian Shanmugam said. It's "just a little inconvenience in terms of transport services, which is already getting back to normal," he said in an emailed reply to questions.

Top Glove Corp and Hartalega Holdings have their facilities in Selangor, an industrialised state surrounding Kuala Lumpur and among the hardest hit.

In the southern Philippines, the strongest typhoon to hit the country toppled power lines, leaving more than 200 cities and towns without electricity, while phone signal remains unavailable in many areas. Some sea and air terminals resumed operations, allowing relief activity.

Philippine Vice President Leni Robredo said of Dinagat Islands, a province in the Mindanao region she visited early on Monday. "There's no power, no water and any means of communication." More than 54,000 homes were damaged, Timbal said.

On the resort island of Siargao, where Rai first made landfall, the damage may reach US$400 million, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported, citing a local official. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday said he will release US$40 million in aid to affected areas, while Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob on Sunday said US$23.7 million would be allocated to repair the damage and affected households would be given RM1,000 (S$325.7) each.

Annual economic loss due to disasters in Southeast Asia is estimated at US$86.5 billion, according to a 2020 United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific report.

BLOOMBERG