Indonesia floods and landslides kill over 1,000

At least 1,003 people have been killed by devastating floods and landslides in Indonesia, officials said on Saturday, December 13, as rescue teams continued to search for survivors across the heavily affected island of Sumatra.

The disaster, which has unfolded over the past two weeks, has left more than 5,400 people injured and 218 others still missing, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, cited by foreign media.

Authorities warned that the death toll is expected to rise as access improves to remote areas that were previously cut off.

Relentless torrential rains have inundated vast parts of North Sumatra, West Sumatra and Aceh provinces, triggering landslides that buried homes and swept away roads, bridges and farmland. More than 1.2 million people have been forced to flee their homes and seek refuge in temporary shelters, many of which are overcrowded and lacking basic necessities.

The scale of the flooding makes it one of the deadliest disasters to strike Sumatra in recent years, drawing painful comparisons with the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that devastated Aceh province and claimed more than 170,000 lives in Indonesia alone.

Rescue and relief efforts have been hampered by damaged infrastructure and ongoing rainfall, which have slowed aid deliveries. Frustration has grown among displaced families, some of whom have complained of delays in assistance and shortages of clean water, medicines and food.

President Prabowo Subianto sought to reassure the public on Saturday, saying conditions were gradually improving. After visiting the flood-hit district of Langkat in North Sumatra, he said several areas that had been isolated were now accessible.

“Here and there, due to natural and physical conditions, there have been slight delays,” Prabowo said. “But I checked all the evacuation sites: their conditions are good, services are adequate, and food supplies are sufficient.”

The government estimates that rebuilding damaged homes, roads and public infrastructure could cost as much as 51.82 trillion rupiah, or about $3.1 billion. Despite the scale of the destruction, authorities in Jakarta have so far dismissed calls to seek international assistance, insisting that domestic resources are being mobilised to manage the crisis.

Indonesia is particularly vulnerable to floods and landslides because of its tropical climate, mountainous geography and deforestation in some regions. Climate scientists warn that extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and intense, raising the risk of large-scale disasters across the archipelago.

As search-and-rescue operations continue, officials say the immediate priority remains finding the missing and preventing further loss of life, even as communities brace for more heavy rain in the days ahead.

By Tamilla Hasanova