Deadly Floods in Southeast Asia Leave Over 1,500 Dead as Roads and Communications Collapse

Damaged Roads and Debris Slow Relief Operations After Deadly Floods in Asia

Emergency teams raced to reach isolated communities after last week’s catastrophic floods and landslides struck parts of Asia, killing more than 1,500 people and overwhelming local rescuers. Authorities reported 867 confirmed dead in Indonesia, 486 in Sri Lanka, 185 in Thailand and three in Malaysia.

Many villages in Indonesia and Sri Lanka remain buried under mud and wreckage, and nearly 900 people are still unaccounted for across those two countries. Recovery efforts are further along in Thailand and Malaysia, but large areas remain cut off.

Roads torn apart and collapsed transmission towers have severed lifelines to communities; some areas are reachable only by helicopter. In Aceh Tamiang, the worst-hit district in Aceh province, entire settlements in the green hills lie buried beneath thick mud and more than 260,000 residents have been displaced from once-productive farmland.

Clean water and sanitation systems have been shattered: wells are contaminated and pipes broken, making potable water scarce. Food is limited, health facilities are strained, and the stench of decay from debris and animal carcasses hangs over many areas, heightening the risk of waterborne disease.

Helicopters have begun delivering food, medicine and blankets to isolated pockets in Aceh Tamiang, where shelter, sanitation and medical care are urgent priorities. Trucks carrying relief supplies are inching along the route linking Medan in North Sumatra to Aceh Tamiang after it reopened nearly a week after the disaster, but distribution remains slow because debris still blocks stretches of the road, National Disaster Management Agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari said.

Television footage and on-the-ground reports show widespread devastation: cars flipped, houses badly damaged, and scores of displaced families sheltering on bridges and in makeshift tarpaulins. Two hospitals and 15 community health centers in the district stood idle, and medical teams have been forced to improvise care inside crowded shelters amid shortages of medicine and staff.

“We have nothing left,” said Vira, who uses a single name, breaking down in tears. “We drank floodwater from discarded bottles and scavenged for scraps ... whatever the current carried to us.”

Another resident, Angga, recalled clinging to a tin roof with 13 relatives and neighbors for four nights. “Even now, eight days after the floods erased our village, no aid has reached us — no helicopters, no rescue teams,” he said. “We had no choice but to drink the very water that destroyed our homes.”

Relief organizations and government teams continue to prioritize restoring access to clean water, sanitation, shelter and medical care while clearing roads and repairing communications. Officials warn that clearing debris, rebuilding infrastructure and addressing the environmental and human costs of the disaster will require substantial time and resources.

Reporting by AP. Additional reporting contributed from Jakarta and Colombo.