Survivors pick up pieces in flood-hit Indonesia as more rain predicted

A horse-drawn carriage carries passengers through a flooded road past an abandoned gas station in Bandung, West Java on December 5, 2025. [AFP]

Survivors in Indonesia were piecing back shattered lives Friday after devastating floods killed more than 1,600 people across five countries, with fears of fresh misery as more rain looms.

Indonesia has borne the brunt of the disaster, with its toll rising to 846 dead and 547 missing, authorities said. Many are in the island of Sumatra's northern Aceh province where more than 800,000 people have also been displaced. Sri Lanka has reported 486 deaths, Thailand 276 and Malaysia two.

At least two people were also killed in Vietnam after heavy rains lashed the country and triggered more than a dozen landslides, state media said Friday.

On Indonesia's Sumatra island, many survivors were counting the cost of the deluge that started last week, leading to destructive flash-flooding and landslides.

"Our house was covered by soil up to the ceiling," said Rumita Laurasibuea. "Around the house, there were piles of wood."

The 42-year-old government contractor, now sheltering in a school, told AFP that recovering from the flood's impact "could take more than a year."

Hendra Vramenia, 37, had fled his village in Kampung Dalam in southeastern Aceh and feared that people in remote areas now risked starvation.

"This is a calamity we must face," he said of the disaster.

Dire situation

Indonesia's meteorological agency warned Aceh could see "very heavy rain" through Saturday, with North and West Sumatra also at risk.

It was again raining hard in Aceh's capital, Banda Aceh, an AFP correspondent said.

Indonesian flood victims said further rain was likely to bring fresh misery.

"We are still worried... If the rain comes again, where can we go? Where can we evacuate?" asked Rumita.

An aid organisation working in Sumatra said some flood areas were still unreachable, adding the "disaster situation is complex."

"The situation is very dire and heartbreaking due to the difficulty in accessing aid," said Nanang Subana Dirja, Chief Executive of Islamic Relief Indonesia.

"In some places, water still has not receded. Power outages and unstable signals often disrupt communication for us and our staff," Nanang said.

In Sri Lanka, authorities said floodwaters had begun to recede, but residents face a mammoth clean-up.

In the central town of Gampola, residents worked to clear the mud and fix water damage.

"We are getting volunteers from other areas to help with this clean-up," Muslim cleric Faleeldeen Qadiri told AFP at the Gate Jumma Mosque.

"It takes 10 men a whole day to clean one house," said a volunteer, who gave his name as Rinas.

"No one can do this without help."

Unusual natural disasters

Two separate weather systems dumped massive rainfall on Sri Lanka and Sumatra as well as parts of southern Thailand and northern Malaysia last week.

The latest downpour this week in Vietnam prompted authorities on Friday to label 2025 as "the year with the most unusual natural disasters in history."

Across Asia seasonal monsoons bring rainfall that farmers depend on, but climate change is making the phenomenon more erratic, unpredictable and deadly throughout the region.

Environmentalists and Indonesia's government have also pointed to the role forest loss played in the flash flooding and landslides that washed torrents of mud into villages and stranded residents on rooftops.

Indonesia is among the countries with the largest annual forest loss due to mining, plantations and fires, and has seen the clearance of large tracts of its lush rainforest in recent decades.

Jakarta on Wednesday said it was revoking environmental permits of several companies suspected of worsening the disaster's impact, and have launched a probe.

Should evidence show corporate involvement in illegal logging or land clearing, which aggravated the disaster, "investigations could escalate to criminal prosecution", said Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq.

The scale of the disaster has made relief efforts challenging.

Indonesia's government this week insisted it could handle the fallout, despite public outcry that not enough was being done.