At least 912 people have been confirmed dead, and 392 remain missing. More than 5,000 have been injured, and over 3 million people have been affected or displaced.
The disaster was triggered by a powerful cyclone and days of intense rainfall that also struck parts of Malaysia and Thailand. Yet the devastation in Sumatra has been uniquely severe. The scale of loss raises an unavoidable question: Why did the impact here prove so deadly?
In the days following the floods, videos circulated widely online, showing massive, cleanly cut logs drifting through villages, carried by raging waters past collapsed homes and shattered infrastructure. These images were striking not only for their destruction, but for what they revealed.
For years, environmental groups and researchers have warned of extensive deforestation across Sumat
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