Floods and landslides across Indonesia’s Sumatra island have claimed 631 lives, according to the nation’s disaster agency, as authorities evacuated around one million people from areas deemed high-risk.
This week’s heavy monsoon rains, compounded by tropical cyclones, have battered parts of Asia, including Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and southern Thailand. The disasters have killed more than 1,160 people across the region, destroyed infrastructure, and flooded towns.
In Indonesia alone, 3.2 million people have been affected, with 2,600 injured and 472 reported missing. Rescue efforts are underway, but blocked roads and damaged bridges are slowing aid delivery, leaving parts of northern Sumatra unreachable.
Aceh, one of the worst-hit regions, is facing critical shortages of rice, vegetables, and other essentials, with prices having tripled, Islamic Relief reported.
The charity is sending 12 tons of emergency food aid, warning: “Communities across Aceh are at severe risk of food shortages and hunger if supply lines are not re-established in the next seven days.”
The Indonesian government announced on Monday that it is sending 34,000 tons of rice and 6.8 million litres of cooking oil to Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization is deploying rapid response teams, delivering critical supplies, and strengthening disease monitoring.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO’s chief, told reporters in Geneva that the events are “another reminder of how climate change is driving more frequent and more extreme weather events, with disastrous effects.”
Survivors, many sheltered in evacuation centres, described the sudden and overwhelming force of the floods.
Gahitsa Zahira Cahyani, 17, a student at an Islamic boarding school, said, “We didn’t think we would survive that night because the situation was so chaotic. Everyone was thinking about saving themselves. There was no prior warning whatsoever before the water came.” Hundreds of students fled in the night, some clinging to trees and the mosque’s roof.
While monsoon seasons often bring heavy rains that can trigger floods and landslides, this year’s damage was worsened by a rare tropical storm in the Malacca Strait, which also devastated parts of southern Thailand, leaving 176 people dead.
Sri Lanka, meanwhile, has suffered severe flooding and landslides from Cyclone Ditwah, killing 390 people, with 352 still missing.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake declared a state of emergency, calling it the “most challenging natural disaster in our history.”
Although rains have subsided across Sri Lanka, officials warned that landslide alerts remain active across much of the central region.
