Tropical cyclones unleashed catastrophic flooding and landslides across Southeast Asia, leaving hundreds dead and many more unaccounted for. On Sumatra, the confirmed death toll climbed to 303, with nearly 280 people still missing across North Sumatra, Aceh and West Sumatra after Cyclone Senyar swept through the region. The same system devastated southern Thailand, where at least 162 deaths were reported, and triggered evacuations in Malaysia and the Philippines.
Sri Lanka faced its own disaster as Cyclone Ditwah caused deadly landslides and widespread flooding, killing 193 people and leaving 228 missing. Nearly a million residents have been affected, with military personnel rescuing families from rooftops as waters swallowed entire neighborhoods.
Across the region, rescue efforts have been hampered by blocked roads, collapsed communications infrastructure, and heavy mud. Indonesian emergency crews trekked through dense rainforest to reach isolated mountain villages. Meanwhile Thailand’s Hat Yai province recorded its heaviest daily rainfall in three centuries, submerging temples and urban districts under towering floodwaters.
Additional threats loom. A separate tropical storm, Koto, is expected to reach Vietnam’s coast, though forecasters anticipate it will weaken as it approaches.
Meteorologists point to persistent La Niña conditions as a major driver of this season’s extreme weather. Warmer-than-normal waters in the western Pacific have loaded the atmosphere with moisture, intensifying monsoons and spawning a nearly unbroken chain of tropical storms since September. Rising global temperatures are further amplifying rainfall and transforming ordinary cyclones into increasingly destructive events.
Reference
Schanen, N. (2025, November 30). More than 500 dead across Southeast Asia after record rainfall, floods. The Washigton Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/11/30/southeast-asia-floods/