PADANG, Indonesia (AP) — The death toll from flash floods and landslides on Sumatra rose to 164 Friday, with 79 people still missing, authorities said. Rescue operations have been slowed by damaged bridges and roads and a shortage of heavy equipment.
North Sumatra province reported 116 deaths, Aceh recorded 25 fatalities, and responders recovered 23 bodies in West Sumatra, National Disaster Mitigation Agency chief Suharyanto said.
Monsoon downpours caused rivers in North Sumatra to overflow Tuesday, sending torrents through mountainside villages, sweeping people away and submerging more than 3,200 houses and buildings. The disaster displaced about 3,000 families who sought shelter in government facilities.
Across Aceh and West Sumatra thousands of homes were inundated, in many cases up to the roofs. Mudslides, power outages and disrupted telecommunications have impeded search-and-rescue efforts, Ferry Wulantukan, a North Sumatra police spokesperson, said.
West Sumatra’s disaster agency said floods submerged more than 17,000 homes and pushed roughly 23,000 residents into temporary shelters. Floods and landslides also destroyed rice fields, killed livestock and cut off roads and bridges, isolating communities.
In Aceh, authorities have struggled to bring excavators and other heavy machinery to affected hilly hamlets because roads were washed out by torrential rains.
The severe weather was driven by Tropical Cyclone Senyar, which formed in the Strait of Malacca, said Achadi Subarkah Raharjo of Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency. He warned that unstable atmospheric conditions and continued moisture supply mean extreme weather could persist while the cyclone system remains active. Seasonally heavy rains frequently trigger floods and landslides across Indonesia’s mountainous and floodplain regions.