Jakarta's governor has been hit with a lawsuit filed by residents of the sprawling city after torrential rain sparked floods and landslides that killed dozens and left thousands homeless, a lawyer said Tuesday.

More than 200 flood victims are seeking a total of 43 billion rupiah ($3 million) in compensation in the class action, which was filed Monday in Jakarta district court.

The suit claims Governor Anies Baswedan was responsible for failing to provide the megacity with a proper early-warning system and effective emergency measures to minimise deaths and financial losses.

The city's legal bureau did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"This should serve as a lesson for local government elsewhere to be more aware of disaster mitigation," lawyer Alvon Kurnia Palma told AFP.

"If this happens in Jakarta, where the central government is located, it could happen anywhere," he added.

The disaster caused at least $72 million in damage and monetary losses, according to business lobby the Indonesian Indigenous Entrepreneurs Association.

Whole neighbourhoods in the capital -- a megalopolis home to around 30 million people -- were submerged by floodwaters that forced tens of thousands into temporary shelters after torrential rains that began on New Year's Eve.

It was the city's deadliest flooding in years, with Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency saying downpours that sparked floods and landslides were the heaviest in the capital since record-keeping began in the 19th century.

At least 67 people in Jakarta and nearby cities were killed, with floodwaters reaching up to the second floor of some buildings after rivers burst their banks.

Iran floods kill at least three: reports
Tehran (AFP) Jan 14, 2020 - Flooding in southern Iran has killed at least three people and left hundreds of villages cut off following days of heavy rainfall, official media reported on Tuesday.

"So far three people have been confirmed dead and one has been reported missing," Press TV, the English-language service of state television, reported on its website.

Rescue teams used boats and helicopters to provide relief after floodwaters cut off road access to urban areas of Hormozgan, Kerman and Sistan-Baluchistan provinces, state news agency IRNA said.

They have so far been unable to reach the town of Qasr-e Qand and 40 surrounding villages in Sistan-Baluchistan, said governor Rahimbaksh Pakandish, cited by IRNA.

Five hundred villages were affected and thousands of homes destroyed or damaged in the southeastern province, IRNA reported, adding that 285 families were given emergency shelter in Red Crescent tents.

"More than 20,000 people in villages of Sistan-Baluchistan province have lost their homes because of flooding or are surrounded by water," Deputy Health Minister Alireza Raisi was quoted as saying.

The Revolutionary Guards distributed 1,000 food packages to those affected, said IRNA.

In Kerman province, roads were severed and 40 villages suffered damage, while in Hormozgan province 61 people were rescued.

The amount of rain that fell in the southwestern province of Hormozgan since Friday was "unprecedented", the semi-official ISNA news agency reported.

Floodwaters had surrounded more than 50 villages in the Gulf province.

"Unprecedented floods are ravaging #Iran's Sistan & Baluchistan province, with significant human & material costs," Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted on Monday night.

The flood disaster is the worst in Iran since at least 70 people were killed across 20 provinces in April.

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