Jakarta-Sana
The Indonesian authorities announced today that the number of victims of the tropical cyclone Seroga, which swept through the eastern Indonesian province of Nusa Tenggara recently, has risen to 177, while 45 others are still missing.
"The villages struck by the cyclone are still isolated due to the rockslides caused by the cyclone and torrential rains accompanied by strong winds," Xinhua news agency quoted local official Joseph Nai Sui as saying, adding that "helicopters and ferries will be deployed to distribute aid to the affected areas."
The torrential rains that accompanied Seroga forced thousands of people to leave their homes.
According to the Agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics, high winds and torrential rains, as well as floods, landslides and high sea waves up to six meters high, occurred as the hurricane wrapped in the Savo Sea.
A previous toll indicated that 165 people were killed in Indonesia, and Cyclone Seroga is currently heading towards Australia, where the authorities called on vacationers to evacuate part of the West Coast before its expected arrival this evening or tomorrow morning.