1-12-2025 (JAKARTA) Flash floods and landslides triggered by relentless rains have killed at least 604 people across Sumatra, with 570,000 others displaced and 1.5 million affected in Indonesia’s deadliest natural calamity this year.
The crisis, unfolding since late November, battered North Sumatra hardest with 283 fatalities and 169 missing, followed by West Sumatra at 165 deaths and Aceh with 156. Over 2,600 injuries were reported amid the chaos, as swollen rivers and mudslides razed tens of thousands of homes—many buried under meters of debris. Survivors in districts like Tapanuli and East Aceh recounted fleeing waist-high waters that swept away livelihoods, leaving daily-wage farmers and traders without shelter or clean water.
In Agam regency, families sifted through sludge for lost belongings, while inaccessible roads hampered early relief. President Prabowo Subianto toured the hardest-hit zones on Monday, committing military helicopters and ships for aid distribution and vowing funds to rebuild homes.
No national emergency has been declared, though experts link the storm’s ferocity to climate-driven intensification of Southeast Asian monsoons. Rescue teams will intensify searches for the 464 missing as waters recede, with focus on long-term recovery funding announcements.
