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Parts of North Sumatra province were cut off by damaged roads and downed communications lines, and relied on relief aircraft to deliver aid supplies. Rescue efforts were also hampered by a lack of heavy equipment.
Rescuers in North Sumatra recovered 31 bodies on Saturday, said provincial police spokesperson Ferry Walintukan, increasing the death toll to 279.
More than 3,500 police personnel were deployed to search for 174 people still missing and help distribute aid to over 28,400 who fled to temporary government shelters across the province, he said.
Monsoon rains over the past week caused rivers to burst their banks. The deluge tore through the mountainside village, swept away people and submerged thousands of houses and buildings.
In the Agam district in West Sumatra province, nearly 80 people were missing in three villages, buried under tons of mud and rocks. There was a desperate need for heavy equipment to reach possible survivors. Relatives wailed as they watched rescuers pull bodies from a buried house in Salareh Aia village.
Images also showed massive piles of logs washed ashore on West Sumatra’s Air Tawar Beach, sparking public concern over possible illegal logging that may have contributed to the disaster.
In Aceh province, on the northern tip of Sumatra, authorities had difficulty deploying tractors and other heavy equipment. Hundreds of police, soldiers and residents dug through the debris with bare hands, shovels and hoes as heavy rain pounded the region.
“The death toll is believed to be increasing, since many bodies are still missing, while many have not been reached,” said Suharyanto, the head of the government’s disaster relief agency.
TV reports showed two rescuers battling strong currents in a small rubber boat, moving toward a man clinging to a coconut tree.
“There are many challenges,” Aceh Gov. Muzakir Manaf said after declaring a state of emergency until Dec. 11 to address the disaster. “We have to do many things soon, but conditions do not allow us to do so.”
Local media said that flash floods in the Bireuen district in Aceh collapsed two bridges, paralysing two-way transportation from North Sumatra’s Medan city to Banda Aceh, and forced residents to cross the river from village to village by boat.
It was the latest natural disaster to hit Indonesia, which is frequently struck by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis because of its location on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin.
Seasonal rains frequently cause flooding and landslides in Indonesia, an archipelago of 17,000 islands where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile flood plains.
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul on Saturday outlined recovery and compensation plans for the southern part of the country, where severe flooding has killed at least 162 people.
More than 1.4 million households and 3.8 million people have been affected by floods triggered by heavy rains in 12 southern provinces, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation said on Saturday.
Government spokesperson Siripong Angkasakulkiat said in a news conference in Bangkok that 162 deaths have been confirmed in eight provinces, particularly in Songkhla province, which recorded at least 126 deaths.
The scale of the flooding and the high number of casualties have sparked widespread criticism of the government. Anutin told reporters Saturday that he acknowledged the government's shortcomings in flood management, and said that when he visited the affected areas, he had apologised to the people “that the government was unable to take care of and protect them.”
Anutin said the government would begin distributing compensation payments to those affected by the floods next week. He also outlined additional relief measures, including debt suspension and short-term, interest-free loans for businesses and home repairs.
The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation reported that water levels began to recede across all affected provinces on Saturday morning. Video footage showed local residents returning to their homes, which had previously been submerged, to inspect the damage. Furniture and personal belongings were seen scattered across the floors.
The flooding, which began last weekend, caused severe disruptions, leaving thousands of people stranded, rendering streets impassable and submerging low-rise buildings and vehicles.
The death toll in Songkhla province, particularly in its largest city, Hat Yai, continued to rise as rescuers gained access to residential areas that had been previously submerged. More bodies were recovered as rescue operations progressed.
Government spokesperson Siripong said King Maha Vajiralongkorn would donate 100 million baht (USD 3.11 million) to Hat Yai Hospital, which suffered extensive damage from flooding, and that the king would grant royal support for the funerals of all victims who died from the flooding.