Torrential downpours have unleashed deadly flash floods and triggered devastating landslides across Indonesia’s Sumatra island, claiming the lives of at least 10 people and leaving six others unaccounted for, police confirmed on Wednesday.
Rescue teams are battling arduous conditions to reach affected communities across six North Sumatra regencies.
Monsoon rains over the past week caused rivers to burst their banks, unleashing torrents of mud, rocks, and trees that tore through hilly villages, causing widespread destruction, the National Police said.
In Sibolga, the worst-hit city, emergency workers had by Wednesday recovered five bodies and three injured people; four villagers remain missing.
In neighbouring Central Tapanuli, landslides tragically claimed at least a family of four, while floods submerged nearly 2,000 homes and buildings.
Elsewhere, floods and landslides uprooted trees, killing one villager and injuring another in South Tapanuli.
A bridge was destroyed in Mandailing Natal, and 470 houses inundated. On Nias island, a main road was blocked by mud and debris.
Harrowing social media videos show water cascading down rooftops as terrified residents scramble for safety, flash floods rapidly transforming streets into raging torrents carrying tree trunks and wreckage.
Sibolga police chief Eddy Inganta said emergency shelters have been set up, with authorities urging residents in high-risk zones to evacuate immediately. He warned that continued rainfall could trigger more landslides, after six such incidents in the hilly city already flattened 17 houses and a café.
“Bad weather and mudslides hampered the rescue operation,” Inganta said, adding that access remains limited as rescuers battle harsh conditions.
Tuesday’s disasters occurred the same day the National Disaster Mitigation Agency declared the official end of relief efforts in two areas of Indonesia’s main island of Java after 10 days of operations.
More than 1,000 rescue workers had been deployed to search for people buried under landslides triggered by torrential rains that left 38 people dead in Central Java's districts of Cilacap and Banjarnegara.
At least two people in Cilacap and 11 in Banjarnegara were still unaccounted for when the operations ended, as unstable ground, bad weather and the depth and extent of the landfill material pose a high safety risk to rescue teams and residents, the agency said.
Heavy seasonal rain from about October to March frequently causes flooding and landslides in Indonesia, an archipelago of 17,000 islands where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile floodplains.
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