More than 900 people have died in cyclone-driven floods and landslides across Indonesia’s Sumatra island, officials said Saturday, as survivors in remote areas navigated blocked roads and debris to reach relief centers.
Government data showed the death toll from the disaster climbed to 908, with another 410 people still missing across three provinces, including Aceh. The same storm systems also caused heavy casualties in neighboring Thailand and Malaysia, where nearly 200 people were reported dead.
In Aceh Tamiang, on Sumatra’s northeast coast, residents described trekking for nearly an hour on Saturday to access emergency supplies. Many climbed over slick logs, passed overturned vehicles, and crossed mud-choked paths to reach a volunteer-run aid post, survivors told Reuters.
Volunteers distributed clean clothing and dispatched a tanker truck to provide fresh water, as many communities had been cut off for days.
Among those making the journey was Dimas Firmansyah, a 14-year-old student at an Islamic boarding school. He said the roads in and out of the area had collapsed or been blocked since the floods hit. “We stayed for about a week there,” Dimas said, adding that students took turns searching for food and boiled floodwater to drink. He urged the government to “come to the area to see the calamity themselves.”
Authorities on Sumatra have appealed to Jakarta to declare a national emergency, saying such a move would unlock additional funding and expand the scale of rescue operations.
President Prabowo Subianto, however, said earlier in the week that conditions were improving and that existing disaster-response measures remained adequate.
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Environmental groups have blamed widespread logging and land clearing for magnifying the destruction, arguing that deforestation worsened runoff and accelerated landslides.
Indonesia’s environment ministry confirmed it has temporarily halted operations at several companies suspected of clearing forests near the hardest-hit regions. The firms will be required to undergo environmental audits as part of the investigation.
North Sumatra Hydro Energy, operator of a China-funded 510-megawatt hydropower plant in Batang Toru.
Agincourt Resources, which runs the Martabe Gold Mine in the same region.
Officials said more suspensions are possible as the government reviews land-use practices across Sumatra.
The severe weather that struck Sumatra also inflicted widespread damage across Southeast Asia. Southern Thailand and Malaysia have each recorded around 200 deaths, according to local authorities, marking one of the region’s deadliest storm cycles in recent years.