Prabowo Subianto

President of Indonesia - Refused to declare national disaster despite rising death toll and pressure from 113 civil society organizations; vowed normalcy within 2-3 months

In late November 2025, rare tropical Cyclone Senyar dumped extreme rainfall on Indonesia's Sumatra island, unleashing catastrophic floods and landslides across the provinces of Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra. By January 4, 2026, Indonesian authorities reported at least 1,177 deaths and 165 missing, with more than 3.3 million residents affected and around 1.1 million displaced across 52 cities and regencies. Economic losses exceeded 68.7 trillion rupiah ($4.13 billion), with 166,743 houses damaged along with hundreds of bridges, health facilities and schools. The same storm systems killed roughly 200 more people in southern Thailand and Malaysia, turning a regional weather anomaly into Southeast Asia's deadliest climate disaster of the year.

Updated Jan 4

President of Indonesia - Leads national response; under pressure over scale and speed of disaster management

In late November 2025, Cyclone Senyar formed over the Strait of Malacca and made landfall on Sumatra, unleashing days of extreme rainfall that triggered catastrophic floods and landslides across the provinces of Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra. The disaster has killed at least 950 people, left 274 missing, injured thousands, and forced around a million people from their homes, making it one of Southeast Asia’s deadliest recent climate-related catastrophes.

Updated Dec 11, 2025