Throughout November and early December of 2025, cyclones had ripped through the homes of families in southeast Asia. Areas such as Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam were affected by the storms. Theories of climate change are swarming through the media as the reason to blame.
In addition to the floods, communities have also fell victim to dangerous landslides that left the streets in muddy mayhem. Over the past weeks, about 1,400 deaths have been reported with hundreds still missing. Indonesia and Sri Lanka were some of the most affected areas with 770 fatalities in Indonesia and 465 in Sri Lanka. 185 bodies were reported in Thailand, and 3 in Malaysia. Local residents amongst these countries say they have suffered major losses, in their homes and relatives. “We have nothing left, everything was gone, we only have the clothes on our backs, we couldn’t bring anything else,” Afrianti said, a resident effected by the floods.
Rescue teams down in Indonesia have been aiding parts of Sumatra that was hit by Cyclone Seynar. The Indonesia Antara News Agency had noted the food scarcity, dangerous roads, and small spike of crime around the areas. People began stealing in order to survive. Down at Hat Yai in Thailand officials have been bringing oxygen tanks and food to communities. Hai Yati suffered from a separate deadly storm that occurs every 300 years, where waters rose to above 8 feet. Many locals had to climb to the highest points of their homes to avoid being caught too deep in the water.
Sri Lanka, one of the hardest hit areas from the Asia floods, was impacted from cyclone Ditwah earlier in December. Floods, mudslides, and landslides left their homes in dirty disasters. Over 25,000 homes were destroyed with over 147,000 locals forced into temporary state shelters. Power and water supply was knocked off; the streets were flooded and rescuers carried stranded residents between flooded stores. The Charity of the Voiceless Foundation helped supply the area with food in boats cooking a variety of meals such as fish, eggs, meat, rice, and curry. The foundation also provided food rations, gas cookers, mattresses, and tools to help build back homes lost by families. Since businesses were submerged, people have lost their jobs and struggling to make ends meet. While some of the few residents who did maintain their jobs are suffering in building back a foundation due to low income.
Malaysia and parts of the Caribbean were flooded with planes of grass drowned. Malaysia was also affected by hurricane Seynar and about 34,000 people were evacuated to shelters. Tourists around Asia in Australia, China, Malaysia, Signapore, and South Africa were rescues in Songkhla, Thailand, according to the Ministry of Tourism to CNN. Many other children in the catastrophe of these floods are dealing with the consequences of returning to school and their broken homes, surviving off of the little stability that was left behind in the piles of debris.
