- Asia
- South Asia
Catastrophic flooding displaces more than four million people
Shweta Sharma,Stuti MishraMonday 01 December 2025 05:42 GMTComments
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The death toll from the devastating floods across several Asian countries has surpassed 900, with storms and cyclones battering Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Sri Lanka and bringing their heaviest rainfall in decades.
Millions of people across Southeast Asia have been affected as the exceptionally rare Cyclone Senyar has swept through Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, while the powerful Cyclone Ditwah has pounded Sri Lanka and India.
Over four million people have been impacted 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 climbed to 442 on Saturday, up from 174 earlier in the week, the head of the country’s disaster mitigation agency said.
At least 279 people remain missing even as around 80,000 have been evacuated, and hundreds are still stranded without essential supplies across three provinces in Sumatra, Indonesia’s westernmost region.
“The water just rose up into the house and we were afraid, so we fled. Then we came back on Friday, and the house was gone, destroyed,” Afrianti, 41, who only goes by one name, told Reuters in West Sumatra’s capital, Padang, where she was sheltering.
Many people in Sumatra were forced to steal food and water to survive, said police spokesperson Ferry Walintukan, adding that regional police had been deployed to restore order.
open image in galleryA general view shows a damaged house in a flooded area in Pidie Jaya district of Indonesia's Aceh province (AFP via Getty)"The looting happened before logistical aid arrived," he said. "(Residents) didn't know that aid would come and were worried they would starve."
Videos on social media showed people running past barricades, flooded roads and broken glass to get their hands on food, medicine and gas. Some were seen wading through waist-deep floodwaters to reach the convenience stores.
Relentless downpours began hammering Sumatra on Wednesday, triggering extensive flooding that submerged towns and swept away roads.
open image in galleryLandslide survivors clean the debris in Hanguranketha, Sri Lanka, on Saturday (AP)Landslides have cut off entire communities in the island’s north, destroying communications infrastructure and leaving key routes impassable. Helicopters have been deployed to deliver aid and supplies to areas inaccessible for three days.
Some areas have been inaccessible for 72 hours, with landslides cutting off the Trans-Sumatran highway.
“We are trying to open the route from North Tapanuli to Sibolga, which has been completely cut off for a third day,” the agency’s chief, Suharyanto, said. Authorities warn the death toll is likely to rise.
In Thailand, 170 people have died, and floods have affected 1.4 million households – roughly 3.8 million people. Heavy rains inundated parts of 12 southern provinces, with deaths confirmed in at least eight, a government spokesperson said in Bangkok.
open image in galleryA woman stands amidst tree trunks that were stranded on a shore following deadly flash floods and landslides, in Padang, West Sumatra province, Indonesia (Reuters)The extreme weather, meteorologists note, was driven in part by Cyclone Senyar, an unusually rare system that formed in the Strait of Malacca.
Hat Yai, the largest city in Songkhla, received 335mm (13 inches) of rain last Friday, its highest single-day tally in 300 years, amid days of heavy downpours.
In neighbouring Malaysia, the toll is lower, but the scale of damage remains severe.
Widespread flooding has swamped large parts of northern Perlis, leaving two people dead and forcing tens of thousands into temporary shelters.
open image in galleryAn aerial view shows houses partially submerged in floodwaters after heavy rainfall in Kaduwela on the outskirts of Colombo on November 29, 2025 (AFP via Getty)Further west, Sri Lanka has been left reeling after Cyclone Ditwah hit the island nation. The death toll rose sharply on Sunday to 334.
The Disaster Management Centre said on Sunday that nearly 400 people remained missing and warned that more heavy rains brought by Cyclone Ditwah were expected across the island in the coming days.
Among those missing were five navy personnel who were last seen trying to cut off overflowing water at a Naval sub-station in Chalai Lagoon, northeast of the country.
Nearly 80,000 people have been displaced and almost 120,000 sent to state-run temporary shelters, according to the DMC. Officials expect the toll to rise as rescue operations continue.
About a third of the country is feared to be without essential services like electricity or running water due to collapsed power lines and inundated water purification facilities. Internet connections have also been disrupted.
Troops from the army, navy, and air force have been deployed alongside civilian workers and volunteers to assist with the relief effort.
open image in gallery(REUTERS)Videos from the island on Saturday showed homes, roads and farmland engulfed by floodwaters.
"My sister and I were trapped on the upper floor of our home with our four children for two days. We slowly ran out of food. We only had biscuits and water to give them last night," Sunethra Priyadarshani, 37, told Reuters.
open image in galleryA man pushes a makeshift raft along a flooded street after heavy rainfall in Ambatale on the outskirts of Colombo (AFP via Getty)President Anura Kumara Dissanayake declared a state of emergency on Saturday to deal with the aftermath of the cyclone and appealed for international aid.
“We are facing the largest and most challenging natural disaster in our history,” the president said in an address to the nation. “Certainly, we will build a better nation than what existed before.”
Neighbouring India, which is also facing heavy rainfall due to the cyclone, was the first to send relief supplies and two helicopters with crew to carry out rescue missions.
The cyclone weakened into a deep depression over the Bay of Bengal and inched closer towards the eastern coastal regions of India. However, heavy rains and strong winds continued to lash parts of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry on Sunday.
Three persons have been killed in rain-related deaths, the state government said.
The cyclone has become Sri Lanka’s deadliest natural disaster since 2017, when flooding and landslides killed more than 200 people and displaced hundreds of thousands.
Weather experts say the extreme conditions across the region may have been intensified due to various cyclonic activities at the same time, like Typhoon Koto in the Philippines and Cyclone Senyar in the Malacca Strait.
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