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View all search resultsThe death toll from the cyclone-induced floods and landslides reached 950 as of Monday, with 274 people still missing, according to official data. The storms also killed about 200 people in southern Thailand and Malaysia.
The President must declare the Sumatra floods and landslides a national disaster so the state can mobilize its vast emergency response apparatus and afterward, learn crucial lessons from this incident for future policies and actions.
On Nov. 25, flash floods triggered by Cyclone Senyar struck Sumatra, severely damaging Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra. Two weeks later, more than 3 million people had been affected, with 1 million displaced, 836 dead, 518 still missing, and some 2,700 injured as of 16.00 Western Indonesia Time (WIB) on Dec. 4.
The regions hit by the floods and landslides in Aceh remain cut off from the government’s rescue efforts and aid delivery because of infrastructural damages, prompting fear of a rising death toll in one of the worst-hit provinces in the disaster.
Aceh resident Munawar Liza Zainal said he felt "betrayed" by the government, which has so far shrugged off pressure to declare a national disaster. Declaring a national disaster would free up resources and help government agencies coordinate their response.
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