Indonesia’s North Sumatra province has been hit by continuous heavy rain in recent days, triggering flash floods and landslides. Local officials announced on Thursday (November 28) that the disaster has so far claimed at least 27 lives, with 2 people still missing.
According to reports from Reuters, Indonesia’s disaster relief agencies stated that heavy rainfall has been affecting four regions in North Sumatra province since last week, leading to flash floods and landslides.
Hadi Wahyudi, a spokesman for the provincial police, informed Reuters that a village in Deli Serdang district experienced a landslide on Wednesday, resulting in 7 deaths and 20 injuries.
Rescue teams are currently searching for the missing individuals, including those trapped in a minibus and other vehicles.
Over the weekend, rescue workers initiated search operations in other areas. 20 bodies have been recovered so far. Efforts are ongoing to locate the two missing persons.
“Today, our focus is on finding the missing individuals and clearing the roads affected by landslides,” Wahyudi stated, adding that excavators have been deployed for this purpose.
Local houses, mosques, and rice fields have suffered severe damage from the landslides and flash floods.
The heavy rain also caused flooding in the provincial capital of Medan, leading to the postponement of elections in certain polling stations.
The Indonesian Meteorological Agency has issued warnings, citing that the rainfall in this tropical archipelago is on the rise due to the influence of the La Niña phenomenon, and extreme weather is expected to persist until the end of 2024.