Death toll from floods and landslides on Indonesia’s Sumatra rises to 164 : NPR

This aerial photo taken using a drone shows a flooded neighborhood in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Friday, November 28, 2025.

Binsar Bakkara/AP

hide caption

toggle caption

Binsar Bakkara/AP

PADANG, Indonesia (AP) — The death toll from flash floods and landslides on the Indonesian island of Sumatra rose to 164 Friday, with 79 people missing, authorities said.

Rescue efforts were hampered by damaged bridges and roads and a lack of heavy equipment.

The death toll in North Sumatra province rose to 116, while 25 people died in Aceh. Rescuers also recovered 23 bodies in West Sumatra, said Suharyanto, head of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency.

A tropical cyclone is expected to continue hitting the Southeast Asian country for several days, the Indonesian Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency reported.

Monsoon rains caused rivers to overflow on Tuesday in North Sumatra province. The deluge ravaged mountainside villages, swept away residents and submerged more than 3,200 homes and buildings, the National Disaster Management Agency said. About 3,000 displaced families fled to government shelters.

Elsewhere in the island provinces of Aceh and West Sumatra, thousands of homes were flooded, most up to the roof, the agency said.

Mudslides that covered much of the area, power outages and a lack of telecommunications hampered search efforts, said Ferry Wulantukan, a spokesman for the North Sumatra regional police.

The West Sumatra disaster mitigation agency reported that floods submerged more than 17,000 homes, forcing around 23,000 residents to flee to temporary shelters. Rice fields, livestock and public facilities were also destroyed and bridges and roads cut by floods and landslides isolated residents.

In Aceh province, authorities struggled to move excavators and other heavy equipment along destroyed roads after torrential rains sent mud and stones crashing into hilly hamlets.

The extreme weather conditions were caused by tropical cyclone Senyar, which formed in the Strait of Malacca, said Achadi Subarkah Raharjo of the Indonesian Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency.

It warned that unstable atmospheric conditions mean extreme weather could persist as long as the cyclone system remains active.

“We have extended its severe weather warning due to a strong influx of water vapor and changing atmospheric dynamics,” Raharjo said.

Senyar intensified rainfall, strong winds and high waves in Aceh, North Sumatra, West Sumatra, Riau and nearby areas before dissipating. Its prolonged downpours left steep, saturated terrain highly vulnerable to disaster, he said.

Seasonal rains frequently cause floods and landslides in Indonesia, an archipelago of 17,000 islands where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile floodplains.