Satellite images show the scale of destruction from Asia floods

Heavy tropical storms and torrential monsoon rains have triggered massive floods and landslides in several parts of South and Southeast Asia.

The downpours, which began late last month, have ravaged Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia.

As climate change exacerbates natural disasters across Asia, more than 1,800 people have been killed by flooding and landslides in affected countries.

The rains have also caused extensive damage, destroying homes, flooding streets and wrecking forested areas.

The Asian Water Development Outlook 2025, released by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Monday, cautioned that the effects of climate change on Asia’s water systems threaten billions of people.

This picture shows an aerial view of members of Indonesia's Mobile Brigade Corps deploying Sumatran elephants to help clear tree debris following flash floods in Meureudu, Pidie Jaya district, Aceh province on December 8, 2025. Officials in flood-hit parts of Indonesia reported shortages of food, shelter, and medicine as the death toll reached 950 on December 8 following weeks of heavy rain. (Photo by CHAIDEER MAHYUDDIN / AFP/Chaideer MAHYUDDIN / AFP) — An aerial view shows members of Indonesia's Mobile Brigade Corps deploying Sumatran elephants to help clear tree debris following flash floods in Meureudu, Pidie Jaya district, Aceh province on December 8, 2025. Officials in flood-hit parts of Indonesia reported shortages of food, shelter, and medicine as the death toll reached 950 on December 8 following weeks of heavy rain [Chaideer Mahyuddin/AFP]
An aerial view shows members of Indonesia's Mobile Brigade Corps deploying Sumatran elephants to help clear tree debris following flash floods in Meureudu, Pidie Jaya district, Aceh province on December 8, 2025 [Chaideer Mahyuddin/AFP]

In Indonesia, at least 961 people have been killed in Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra while 293 are still missing, Indonesia's National Agency for Disaster Management (BNPB) reported late on Sunday.

Some 5,000 people have been injured across the three provinces, and more than one million people have been displaced. More than 156,000 homes have been damaged and 975,075 people are in temporary shelters.

"Everything is lacking, especially medical personnel. We are short on doctors," Muzakir Manaf, governor of Indonesia's Aceh province, told reporters late on Sunday.

“People are not dying from the flood, but from starvation. That’s how it is.”

Illegal logging, often linked to the global demand for palm oil - along with forest loss due to mining, plantations and fires - have both exacerbated the disaster in Sumatra.

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto said the country plans to buy 200 helicopters in 2026, for defence and natural disaster preparedness.

12:17 A woman carrying a child wades through a flooded street after heavy rainfall in Wellampitiya on the outskirts of Colombo on November 30, 2025. Low-lying areas of Sri Lanka's capital were flooded on November 30 after a powerful cyclone triggered heavy rains and mudslides across the island, killing at least 212 people and leaving many more missing. — A woman carrying a child wades through a flooded street after heavy rainfall in Wellampitiya on the outskirts of Colombo on November 30, 2025. Low-lying areas of Sri Lanka's capital were flooded on November 30 after a powerful cyclone triggered heavy rains and mudslides across the island, killing at least 212 people and leaving many more missing [AFP]
A woman carrying a child wades through a flooded street after heavy rainfall in Wellampitiya on the outskirts of Colombo on November 30, 2025 [AFP]

As of Sunday, the death toll from Sri Lanka's floods and landslides stood at 618 while 209 people are reported as still missing.

These floods were caused by Cyclone Ditwah, the most severe to strike the island this century. The cyclone made landfall early on November 28, but Sri Lanka continues to reel from the storms associated with it.

Sri Lanka's Disaster Management Centre (DMC) warned on Sunday that monsoon storms were bringing more rain, making hillsides unstable, including in the central mountainous region and the northwestern midlands.

The DMC added, however, that water levels are receding. The number of people living in state-run refugee camps has fallen from a peak of 225,000 in early December to 100,000 now.

Volunteers wade through floodwater as they carry relief supplies to distribute to stranded local residents, on a flooded street in Hat Yai district, affected by deadly heavy rainfall, which has impacted several provinces in southern Thailand, in Songkhla province, Thailand, November 26, 2025. REUTERS/Karit Chaui-aksorn — Volunteers wade through floodwater as they carry relief supplies to distribute to stranded local residents, on a flooded street in Hat Yai district, affected by deadly heavy rainfall, which has impacted several provinces in southern Thailand, in Songkhla province, Thailand, November 26, 2025 [Karit Chaui-aksorn/Reuters]
Volunteers wade through floodwater as they carry relief supplies to distribute to stranded local residents, on a flooded street in Hat Yai district in Songkhla province, Thailand, November 26, 2025 [Karit Chaui-aksorn/Reuters]

The Thai Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation reported on Sunday that floods continue in parts of Thailand, including in eight provinces in the central plains, four in the south and two in the north.

The department said water levels were receding in most of these areas, however.

At least 276 people have been killed in flooding in Thailand. The deaths were mainly caused by electrocution and flood-related accidents.

A woman takes a photo of a flooded mosque in Kangar in northern Malaysia's Perlis state on November 27, 2025, as severe flooding affected thousands of people in the region following days of heavy rain. Flooding in Malaysia from days of heavy rain has swept through eight states, with forecasters predicting more rain in the coming days. More than 27,000 people were evacuated to dozens of temporary shelters this week, with one death recorded in one of the worst-hit states, Kelantan, on the northeastern coast, according to rescue officials. (Photo by MOHD RASFAN / AFP) — A woman takes a photo of a flooded mosque in Kangar in northern Malaysia's Perlis state on November 27, 2025, as severe flooding affected thousands of people in the region following days of heavy rain. Flooding in Malaysia from days of heavy rain swept through eight states. More than 27,000 people were evacuated to dozens of temporary shelters, with one death recorded in one of the worst-hit states, Kelantan, on the northeastern coast, according to rescue officials [Mohd Rasfan/AFP]
A woman takes a photo of a flooded mosque in Kangar in northern Malaysia's Perlis state on November 27, 2025 [Mohd Rasfan/AFP]

The National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA) reported flooding in eight northern states of Malaysia, which began in late November.

The flooding in Malaysia has killed two people.

As of December 2, 18,700 people had been displaced, according to the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA Centre).