Death toll from the destruction floods in several Asian countries exceeded 900, due to storms and cyclones. Indonesia, MalaysiaThailand and Sri Lanka and brought the heaviest rains in decades.
Millions of people around the world Southeast Asia suffered as the exceptionally rare Cyclone Senyar swept through Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, and powerful cyclone Ditva has hit Sri Lanka and India.
More than four million people have been affected by the floods, nearly three million of them in southern Thailand and 1.1 million in western Indonesia, according to official data.
In Indonesia, the death toll from floods and landslides have reached There were 442 on Saturday, down from 174 earlier this week, the head of the country's disaster mitigation agency said.
At least 279 people remain missing, although about 80,000 have been evacuated, and hundreds of people remain without basic supplies in three Chinese provinces. Sumatra, The westernmost region of Indonesia.
“The water just came up into the house and we got scared, so we ran. Then we came back on Friday and the house was gone, destroyed,” Afrianti, 41, who goes by only one name, told Reuters in the West Sumatra capital of Padang, where she was taking shelter.
Many people in Sumatra were forced to steal food and water to survive, police spokesman Ferry Walintukan said, adding that regional police were deployed to restore order.
General view of a damaged house in a flooded area in the Pidi Jaya region of Indonesia's Aceh province (AFP via Getty)
“The robbery occurred before logistical assistance arrived,” he said. “(The residents) didn’t know help was coming and were afraid they would die of hunger.”
Videos on social media showed people running past barricades, flooded roads and broken glass to get food, medicine and gasoline. Some were seen wading through waist-deep floodwaters to reach convenience stores.
Sumatra was hit by incessant downpours on Wednesday, causing widespread flooding that swamped towns and washed away roads.
Landslide survivors clear debris in Hanguranket, Sri Lanka, on Saturday (AP)
Landslides cut off entire communities in the north of the island, destroying communications infrastructure and leaving key routes impassable. Helicopters were deployed to deliver aid and supplies to areas that had been inaccessible for three days.
Some areas were inaccessible for 72 hours due to landslides cutting off the Trans-Sumatran Highway.
“We are trying to open the route from Northern Tapanuli to Sibolga, which has been completely blocked for the third day,” said the head of the agency, Suharyanto. Authorities warn the death toll is likely to rise.
In Thailand, 170 people died and floods affected 1.4 million households – approximately 3.8 million people. Heavy rains have flooded parts of 12 southern provinces, with deaths confirmed in at least eight of them, a government official in Bangkok said.
A woman stands among tree trunks stranded on the shore after deadly floods and landslides in Padang, West Sumatra province, Indonesia (Reuters)
Meteorologists say the extreme weather was partly caused by Cyclone Senyar, an unusually rare system that formed in the Strait of Malacca.
Hat Yai, Songkhla's largest city, received 335 mm (13 inches) of rain last Friday, the highest single-day total in 300 years, amid heavy downpours.
In neighboring Malaysia, the death toll is lower, but the scale of damage remains severe.
Widespread flooding inundated much of northern Perlis, killing two people and forcing tens of thousands to seek temporary shelter.
An aerial view shows houses partially submerged by floodwaters after heavy rain in Kaduwela on the outskirts of Colombo, November 29, 2025 (AFP via Getty)
Further to the west is Sri Lanka. staggering after Cyclone Ditwa hit the island nation. The death toll rose sharply to 334 on Sunday.
The disaster management center said on Sunday that about 400 people were missing and warned that the island was expected to experience even more heavy rains in the coming days caused by Cyclone Ditwa.
Among the missing were five Navy personnel who were last seen trying to stop the overflow of water at a Navy substation in Chalay Lagoon in the northeast of the country.
About 80,000 people have been forced from their homes and nearly 120,000 sent to government temporary shelters, according to the DMC. Officials expect the death toll to rise as rescue efforts continue.
There are fears that about a third of the country will be left without basic services such as electricity and running water as power lines collapse and water treatment plants flood. The Internet connection was also disrupted.
Army, Navy and Air Force troops were deployed along with civilian workers and volunteers to assist.
(REUTERS)
Video from the island on Saturday showed homes, roads and farmland submerged by floodwaters.
“My sister and I were locked on the top floor of our house with our four children for two days. We were gradually running out of food. Last night we only had biscuits and water,” Sunetra Priyadarshani, 37, told Reuters.
A man pushes a makeshift raft through a flooded street after heavy rain in Ambatala on the outskirts of Colombo (AFP via Getty)
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake declared a state of emergency on Saturday to deal with the cyclone and appealed for international assistance.
“We are facing the largest and most complex natural disaster in our history,” the president said in an address to the nation. “Of course we will build a better nation than the one that existed before.”
Neighboring India, which also faced heavy rains due to the cyclone, was the first to send humanitarian aid and two crewed helicopters to carry out rescue operations.
The cyclone weakened into a deep depression over the Bay of Bengal and slowly approached the eastern coastal regions of India. However, heavy rains and strong winds continued to lash parts of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry on Sunday.
According to the state government, three people died as a result of the rain.
The cyclone was Sri Lanka's deadliest natural disaster since 2017, when floods and landslides killed more than 200 people and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes.
Weather experts say extreme conditions in the region may have intensified due to various cyclonic events occurring simultaneously, such as Typhoon Coto in the Philippines and Cyclone Senyar in the Strait of Malacca.
