CRBC News
Politics
Conflict
Security
Economy
Science
Technology
Environment
Health
Culture
Society
Lifestyle
Environment

Desperate Husband Searches For Wife After Floodwaters Sweep Away Their Home In Sumatra — "Is She Alive?"

03:27 AM, 12/05/2025
Desperate Husband Searches For Wife After Floodwaters Sweep Away Their Home In Sumatra — "Is She Alive?"

After heavy rains on Nov. 28 swept away his house in Palembayan, Sumatra, 57-year-old Abdul Ghani has spent days searching for his wife of 25 years, Marsoni, who remains missing. Officials say the floods — driven by cyclones and an unusually intense monsoon — have killed more than 700 people in Indonesia and left over 1.5 million affected, including roughly 570,000 displaced. Activists blame deforestation and unchecked development for making communities more vulnerable. Rescue teams and authorities continue to search for survivors and account for the missing.

Desperate Search After Floods Sweep Away Home In Palembayan, Sumatra

Abdul Ghani, 57, has spent days searching for his wife, Marsoni, after floodwaters swept away their home in Palembayan on Friday, Nov. 28. Local residents alerted Ghani while he was at work; when he returned to the site where the house once stood he found the landscape "everywhere was like a river."

Ghani, who had been married to Marsoni for 25 years, carries her photograph and shows it to everyone he meets as rescue teams continue to comb the area. Despite his relentless search he fears she may be dead.

"Is she alive? I don't think she is," he said. "But I hope they find her body, even if it's just a piece of her hand."

Officials say the floods — driven by a combination of cyclones and an unusually intense monsoon season — have had a catastrophic impact across Indonesia. Authorities estimate more than 700 people have died and more than 400 remain missing. The New York Times reports roughly 1.5 million people have been affected and about 570,000 displaced.

Across Southeast Asia, successive storms and heavy seasonal rains have produced widespread devastation and thousands of deaths. Environmental activists argue the scale of destruction has been amplified by human activity. Rianda Purba of the Indonesian Environmental Forum described the situation as "a human-made crisis," pointing to deforestation and unchecked development around Batang Toru that removed natural protections and worsened flood impacts.

For Ghani the loss is intensely personal: "I had a wife, we loved each other," he said, asking, "Where do I go next?" As communities cope with large-scale displacement and damage, rescue teams and authorities continue searching for survivors and working to account for those still missing.

Similar Articles

Trending