Deaths from last week’s catastrophic floods and landslides in parts of Asia have surged past 1,500. Rescue teams are racing to reach survivors, with hundreds still unaccounted for. Experts warn that decades of deforestation from unchecked development, mining, and palm oil plantations may have worsened the devastation.
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This aerial photo taken from a national disaster mitigation agency’s helicopter during an aerial aid distribution shows an area affected by floods in Pidie Jaya, Aceh province, Indonesia, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. Soldiers and residents unload relief goods from a national disaster mitigation agency’s helicopter during an aerial aid distribution in a flood affected area in North Aceh, Indonesia, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. This aerial photo taken from a national disaster mitigation agency’s helicopter during an aerial aid distribution shows an area affected by floods in Pidie Jaya, Aceh province, Indonesia, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. Flood survivors react as they receive relief goods during an aerial aid distribution using national disaster mitigation agency’s helicopter in North Aceh, Indonesia, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. Flood survivors react as they receive relief goods during an aerial aid distribution using national disaster mitigation agency’s helicopter in North Aceh, Indonesia, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. This aerial photo taken from a national disaster mitigation agency’s helicopter during an aerial aid distribution shows an area affected by floods in Pidie Jaya, Aceh province, Indonesia, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. This aerial photo taken from a national disaster mitigation agency’s helicopter during an aerial aid distribution shows an area affected by floods in Pidie Jaya, Aceh province, Indonesia, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. Soldiers and residents unload relief goods from a national disaster mitigation agency’s helicopter during an aerial aid distribution in a flood affected area in North Aceh, Indonesia, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. Soldiers and residents unload relief goods from a national disaster mitigation agency’s helicopter during an aerial aid distribution in a flood affected area in North Aceh, Indonesia, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. This aerial photo taken from a national disaster mitigation agency’s helicopter during an aerial aid distribution shows an area affected by floods in Pidie Jaya, Aceh province, Indonesia, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. This aerial photo taken from a national disaster mitigation agency’s helicopter during an aerial aid distribution shows an area affected by floods in Pidie Jaya, Aceh province, Indonesia, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. in parts of Asia surged past 1,500 Thursday as rescue teams raced to reach survivors isolated by the disaster with hundreds of people still unaccounted for across the region. The tragedy of so much death and destruction was compounded by warnings that decades of deforestation caused by unchecked development, mining and palm oil plantations may have worsened the devastation. Calls grew for the government to act. “We need the government to investigate and fix forest management,” said Rangga Adiputra, a 31-year-old teacher whose home in West Sumatra was swept away. The hills above his village on the outskirts of Padang city had been scarred by illegal logging.Authorities said 837 people were confirmed dead in Indonesia, 479 in Sri Lanka and 185 in Thailand, as well as three in Malaysia. Many villages in Indonesia and Sri Lanka remained buried under mud and debris, with 861 people still unaccounted for in both countries. Thousands reportedly faced severe shortages of food and clean water in cut off areas. The floods and landslides washed away roads and bridges and knocked out telecommunications, leaving many communities inaccessible. Indonesian television showed images of huge amounts of felled timber carried downstream in North Sumatra, West Sumatra and Aceh provinces.The leading Indonesian environmental group WALHI said that decades of deforestation — driven by mining, palm oil plantations, and illegal logging — stripped away natural defenses that once absorbed rainfall and stabilized soil. “The disaster was not just nature’s fury, it was amplified by decades of deforestation,” said Rianda Purba, an activist with the group. “Deforestation and unchecked development have stripped Sumatra of its resilience.” The group recorded more than 240,000 hectares of primary forest were lost in 2024 alone, leaving Sumatra’s small river basins dangerously exposed. Another environmental group, Global Forest Watch, has said the flood-inundated Indonesian provinces of Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra have since 2000 lost 19,600 square kilometers of forest, an area larger than the state of New Jersey.Massive piles of neatly cut timber lay scattered among the debris across Parkit Beach, a sight that stunned emergency crews deployed to the area. “From their shape, it was clear these were not just trees torn out naturally by the flood, but timber that had been deliberately cut,” said a member of a clean-up crew, Neviana, who goes by a single name.“The logs carried by the floods weren’t the kind you get from a flash flood,” she said, “If old trees were uprooted, you would see roots and fragile bark. But these were clean, neatly cut pieces of wood ... they looked like the result of illegal logging.” “We must truly prevent deforestation and forest destruction. Protecting our forests is crucial,” Prabowo said. In Batang Toru, the worst-hit areas in North Sumatra, where seven companies operate, hundreds of hectares had been cleared for gold mining and energy projects, leaving slopes exposed and riverbeds choked with sediment. Rivers there were swollen with runoff and timber, while villages were buried or swept away.Facing public outrage, Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq announced an investigation into eight companies suspected of worsening the disaster. He said environmental permits will be reviewed and future assessments must factor in extreme rainfall scenarios.
Asia Forests Lumber And Timber Industry General News Indonesia Sri Lanka Asia Pacific Government And Politics Thailand World News Forest Watch Water Shortages Climate And Environment Hanif Faisol Nurofiq Aceh Ria Wati Floods World News Climate Politics
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