Indonesia’s disaster agency said the death toll from floods and landslides on Sumatra had risen to 174 by Friday, while 79 people were still missing and thousands of families had been forced from their homes. The latest figures show the scale of a disaster that has spread across one of the country’s most populous islands after days of intense monsoon rain and a tropical storm system that battered western Indonesia.
National Disaster Mitigation Agency chief Suharyanto said North Sumatra accounted for the largest share of the deaths, with 116 people killed there and 42 still being searched for. He said another 35 people were killed in Aceh and 23 in West Sumatra. Authorities said some parts of the island were still cut off, with communications down in places and roads blocked by landslide debris. That has slowed rescue teams and made it harder to confirm the full scale of the damage.
In Padang Pariaman, where 22 people died, floodwaters reached at least one metre and search teams had still not reached some residents by Friday. In Batang Toru, in northern Sumatra, rescuers buried seven unclaimed bodies in a mass grave. The bodies were taken from a truck and laid to rest in black plastic, a grim reminder of how quickly the disaster overwhelmed local capacity and how much pressure was still on local authorities to identify victims and clear access routes.
Officials said Indonesia was still airlifting aid and rescue personnel into stricken districts while working to restore power and reopen roads. Residents described trying to move through rapidly rising water, with one West Sumatra woman saying the flooding reached her waist and then her chest as she tried to get home to her husband. Those accounts underline how quickly the disaster turned routine movement into a life-threatening struggle.
The disaster is part of a wider bout of severe weather across Southeast Asia. Thailand said 145 people had been killed by floods across eight southern provinces, while Malaysia reported two confirmed deaths and continued evacuations after tropical storm Senyar weakened. Separate reporting from Sri Lanka said at least 56 people had been killed by a cyclone there, showing how a single weather pattern can trigger simultaneous emergencies across several countries.
Meteorologists and disaster officials have linked the flooding to a severe spell of monsoon rain and a tropical storm system that moved across the region. The practical consequence has been a patchwork response: some districts are reachable only by airlift, while others remain isolated by debris and standing water. For residents, that means food, medical care and power restoration are all moving on different timelines, depending on whether roads can be reopened first.
