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Thailand has recorded 276 deaths, while Malaysia and Vietnam each reported two fatalities after intense rainfall triggered multiple landslides, according to state media.
On Sumatra, many communities remain devastated by last week’s flash floods and landslides. Indonesia’s meteorological agency warned that Aceh could experience “very heavy rain” through Saturday, with North and West Sumatra also facing elevated risks. Aceh Governor Muzakir Manaf said rescue teams were still digging through “waist-deep mud” in search of victims.
He warned that starvation now poses one of the biggest dangers in remote, cut-off villages.
“Many people urgently need basic supplies. Large areas of Aceh remain unreachable,” he said.
“People are no longer dying from the floodwaters, but from hunger.”
Entire settlements in Aceh Tamiang have been wiped out, he added.
“The whole region, from the highlands to the coast, has been destroyed. Many villages now exist only in name.”
In Sri Lanka, more than two million people—nearly 10% of the population—have been affected. The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said over 71,000 homes were damaged, including almost 5,000 completely destroyed. With more rainfall forecast, authorities fear additional landslides, complicating cleanup and recovery efforts.
Climate change and deforestation intensify the crisis
The floods followed a rare convergence of two typhoons and a cyclone, bringing intense rainfall that scientists say is increasingly likely due to climate change.
Illegal logging—much of it tied to global demand for palm oil—made conditions even worse in Sumatra. Images from the disaster zone show large numbers of felled logs swept downstream.
Indonesia suffers one of the world’s highest annual rates of forest loss due to mining, plantation expansion, and fires. Vast areas of rainforest have been cleared over recent decades.
On Friday, Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni said the government had revoked the logging permits of 20 companies, covering 750,000 hectares (1.8 million acres), including areas affected by the floods. Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq also suspended palm oil, mining, and power plant operations upstream of the disaster zones in North Sumatra.
“The Batang Toru and Garoga watersheds are vital ecological and social zones that must be protected,” Hanif said.
Febi Dwirahmadi, Indonesian programme coordinator for the Centre for Environment and Population Health at Griffith University, told Al Jazeera that intact rainforest acts “like a sponge,” absorbing rainfall.
With deforestation—already accelerating climate change—there is little to slow the runoff, causing water to surge rapidly into rivers and flood communities.
