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IN INDONESIA, SRI LANKA Hardships mount as flood tolls rise
The Freeman
|December 09, 2025
Officials in flood-hit parts of Indonesia reported shortages of food, shelter, and medicine as the death toll reached 950 Monday following weeks of heavy rain.
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A slew of tropical storms and monsoon rains has pummeled Southeast and South Asia, triggering landslides and flash floods from the rainforests of Indonesia’s western Sumatra island to the highland plantations of Sri Lanka.
“Everything is lacking, especially medical personnel. We are short on doctors,” Muzakir Manaf, governor of Indonesia’s Aceh province, told reporters late Sunday.
“Basic necessities are also important. It’s not just one or two items.”
Indonesia’s national disaster mitigation agency (BNPB) said 950 people in Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra had been killed, while 274 were missing.
The downpours and subsequent landslides injured at least 5,000 people and devastated infrastructure.
Hospitals, schools and offices are in ruins, while many bridges have been destroyed, cutting off communities.
This story is from the December 09, 2025 edition of The Freeman.
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