Efforts turn to helping survivors and recovering the dead after devastating floods in Indonesia

Flying over the dense, mountainous rainforests that cover Indonesia's largest island, Sumatra, reveals a terrain scarred with large streaks of orange and brown.

The helicopter traces over a winding road linking two regions in the island's north, with landslide after landslide visible from the air.

They are scars that remain after almost a fortnight of devastating weather, which has killed more than 800 people and left thousands homeless.

These landslides have also cut off roads and destroyed homes, creating pockets of isolated villages across the provinces of North Sumatra, West Sumatra and Aceh.

More than 500 people are still listed as missing, as heavy machinery has been unable to make it to these villages to retrieve the dead. 

The bodies of loved ones remain in these areas, buried under enormous piles of dirt and rubble.

Crews on the ground are working to open road access by clearing an enormous amount of mud and debris and restoring bridges.

In the meantime, these villages are running low on food, fuel and other essentials.

It means helicopter missions like the one the ABC has joined — a supply drop to a remote village in North Sumatra — are lifelines for these towns and villages, which face a long period of being cut off from the rest of the island.

This mission is run by Indonesia's Disaster Management Agency, or BNPB, as it desperately tries to provide relief to these communities.

Crews load up the helicopter with supplies in North Tapanuli, one of the five hardest-hit regencies in North Sumatra, then fly to a remote village about 50 kilometres away.

As the helicopter descends to the ground, a group of residents race towards it.

They quickly form a line, ready to receive packages of rice, milk, instant noodles, biscuits, baby food, cooking oil and tinned fish.

The supply drop takes just minutes, with the helicopter back in the air to return to base and restock.

Recovering after devastating weather

The region was smashed by heavy rainfall and Cyclone Senyar, an incredibly rare system that formed in the Malacca Strait near the equator.

Large parts of North Sumatra, West Sumatra and Aceh were totally flooded.

Before: North-eastern Aceh, a province located on the north of Sumatra, pictured on September 6, 2025.. . After: Satellite vision from November 30, 2025, shows how extensive the flooding was.. .

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Access to some areas has slowly improved, with roads into some regions being re-established.

In Adian Koting, North Tapanuli, officers from Indonesia's police have been distributing food and other supplies to exhausted and hungry residents.

"We must go to areas that are most in need first," North Tapanuli Deputy Chief Police Commissioner Ernis Sitinjak said.

"This is a village that has been severely affected by the landslides.

"Yesterday that water level here was almost 1 metre high."

Workers are also undergoing the devastating task of trying to recover bodies from the mud.

In many villages, families have been waiting anxiously by huge piles of debris and dirt for loved ones and relatives to be recovered.

Crews have been using excavators in areas where they can — in areas where they can't, they have been digging with shovels and their hands.

'Budget cuts' impacting disaster recovery

This disaster comes after BNPB had its budget slashed in the last few years.

In 2021, during the pandemic, BNPB was given an annual budget of 7.1 trillion Indonesian rupiah ($646 million).

By 2025, it was given less than a third of that, at $182 million.

A draft budget for next year has cut BNPB's funding even further, to $45m.

Funding for a separate fund that is also used for disaster management, as well as social and food assistance, has increased slightly.

The funds have been shifted elsewhere to programs like the Indonesian government's free nutritious meals program, said Bhima Yudhistira Adhinegara, the executive director of economic and legal thinktank CELIOS.

"The underfunding of BNPB budgets has impacted regional preparedness for disaster mitigation and relief," he said.

"Evacuation of victims has been slow, and equipment, including trucks for transporting victims and logistics, is inadequate.

"Budget cuts have also impacted the already limited capacity of local governments … many regions still struggle to distribute aid due to budget constraints for heavy equipment rental."

In Aceh, several regency leaders have said they do not have the resources they need to manage the impacts of the flooding and landslides.

East Aceh Regent Iskandar Usman Al-Farlaky told local media he and the other leaders had "raised the white flag".

He also said his regency only had $72,000 left in emergency funds.

So far, Indonesia's national government has not declared a national state of emergency, despite several local leaders requesting one.

On Wednesday, President Prabowo Subianto authorised an increase in funds to tackle the emergency.

State Secretary Minister Prasetyo Hadi said the country was also not seeking any international assistance.