Overview
- Indonesia’s disaster agency reports 883 deaths and 520 missing on Sumatra, as Aceh’s governor warns that people in isolated areas are beginning to die from hunger.
- Authorities say access remains severely constrained by washed-out roads, collapsed bridges and thick mud, leaving relief teams struggling to reach remote villages.
- Sri Lanka’s official toll has risen to 607, with more than two million people affected as thousands of soldiers deploy and cash grants are issued to help families clean and rebuild.
- Meteorologists highlight the rare formation of Cyclone Senyar near the equator in the Strait of Malacca and say warmer sea-surface temperatures made the storms far wetter.
- Environmental groups blame decades of logging, mining and palm-oil expansion on Sumatra for intensifying floods and landslides, while early assessments in media put Sri Lanka’s losses in the billions of euros.