Jakarta: A devastating cycle of floods and landslides triggered by a rare cyclone in the Malacca Strait has left the Indonesian island of Sumatra reeling, with the official death toll now reaching 303, the country’s disaster-mitigation agency announced on Saturday a sharp rise from earlier estimates.
For nearly a week, torrential rains battered multiple provinces, unleashing flash floods, collapsing slopes, and sweeping away homes. The resulting destruction forced more than 80,000 people to evacuate, while hundreds remain stranded in remote and inaccessible zones. Among the worst hit areas is northern Sumatra, where landslides have obliterated roads and severed communication lines, severely hampering relief efforts.
Authorities fear the worst: as many as 279 people are still unaccounted for, presumed missing. In the hardest-hit districts such as North Tapanuli and Sibolga, landslide debris has blocked vital routes; in some places, only helicopters were able to reach survivors for delivering aid.
Desperate survivors in certain districts even attempted to forcibly access incoming relief supplies, reflecting the intensity of the humanitarian crisis. Meanwhile, local authorities, with support from military and disaster-response teams, have intensified efforts. They are working round-the-clock to reopen roads, restore communication, deliver food, medicine and shelter, and evacuate more victims still trapped.
Officials and experts warn that this disaster may mark a new pattern of extreme weather events potentially worsened by climate change and call for urgent strengthening of early-warning systems, disaster-resilient infrastructure, and sustainable environmental planning to better mitigate future tragedies.