Rescue teams raced across parts of Sumatra on Monday after torrential rains and cyclone-driven storms left hundreds dead and vast swathes of the island cut off, as the official death toll from the disaster rose to 502. The National Disaster Management Agency’s latest tally showed the figure climbing as crews continued to recover bodies from flooded villages and landslide zones.
In many of the hardest-hit districts, survivors described scenes of desperation: thousands have been left without clean water, food or medicine, and social-media footage and local reports showed people wading through mud and broken roads to reach shops or to take supplies. Authorities said in some isolated communities people had resorted to breaking into small stores to get food and bottled water as relief deliveries were delayed by damaged infrastructure.
The flooding — concentrated on Sumatra’s North Sumatra, West Sumatra and Aceh provinces — has displaced hundreds of thousands, according to national agency figures, and left whole neighbourhoods buried in mud and debris after rivers burst their banks and slopes gave way. Dozens of areas remained unreachable by road, forcing the military and disaster agencies to rely on helicopters, navy ships and airdrops to reach stranded residents.
Indonesia’s disaster agency said hundreds are still missing and warned that the casualty figure could rise further as access improves and search teams comb still-remote areas. Local officials and relief workers reported power outages, collapsed bridges and washed-out roads that have hampered the speedy distribution of food, drinking water and medical supplies.
International and domestic aid efforts were under way. Military helicopters and navy vessels were deployed to ferry evacuees and deliver emergency supplies, while private and public-sector partners provided communications and logistical support to coordinate relief in the field. In some locations, satellite internet services were temporarily provided to restore communications so authorities could better direct aid and share situation reports.
Residents in makeshift shelters described long lines for dwindling food rations and an urgent need for clean drinking water. Humanitarian groups called for rapid scale-up of assistance to avoid disease outbreaks and to provide for children, pregnant women and the elderly in flooded camps. Local police said they had to deploy personnel to protect relief convoys and distribution points as tensions rose where supplies were scarce.
Experts and policymakers pointed to a complex mix of factors behind the catastrophe: an unusually intense storm system in the Malacca Strait, saturated catchments from days of monsoon rainfall, and environmental pressures such as deforestation and land-use change that can worsen landslides and runoff. Officials said a full assessment of infrastructure damage would take days, and that rebuilding and recovery would be a protracted process.
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