These cyclone are not anomalies. They are the new normal of a warming planet. And right now that geography has buried close to 1,000 of our fellow human beings under layers of mud, water, and indifference. READ & WATCH: Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand Killer Floods: 1000+ Deaths As South Asia Drowns| Nightmare Haunts- transcript below [Times Now from India since 2008]
Close to one thousand. That is the number we are being forced to reckon with today. As of December 1st, 2025, floods and cyclonic storms have killed nearly 1,000 people across Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. But let's be very clear, this is not the final count. This is a midpoint in a catastrophe that is still unfolding. Still swallowing lights, still erasing futures.
In fact, in Indonesia, the death toll has climbed to 442 with another 402 people missing vanished into the mud and debris that tore through North Sumatra, West Sumatra and other parts of Indonesia. In fact, in Sri Lanka, cyclone Dutva has left at least 355 dead and around 366 missing, turning entire neighborhoods into lake of filth and despair.
Now, let's talk about Thailand where 176 lives have been lost. Many of them drowning in Hatyay city that saw 335 mm of rain in a single day. In fact, that was the heaviest downpour in the last 300 years.
And the situation, it remains dire. It's not improving. It is in fact getting worse by the minute.
THE rising waters that won’t stop
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Let us be very precise what dire means. In Indonesia, entire communities in Sumatra Island are cut off. Roads have been obliterated by landslides. Bridges have collapsed. Communication networks are down. Rescue teams are using helicopters to drop foods and water into villages that have been unreachable for many days.
In Sri Lanka, the Kilani River has birthed its banks. Over 1 lakh 47,000 people are crammed into temporary shelters, their homes submerged or destroyed by the flood water. Now, the Sri Lankan President Anurak Kumara has declared this the largest and most challenging natural disaster, even worse than the 2004 tsunami in scope and devastation. Rescue teams including Indian forces deployed under operation Sagar Bandhu are still searching for 370 missing people. Many of them buried under landslide in the chi growing central highlands.
In Thailand the southern provinces are absolutely paralyzed In fact in Hatyai 16,000 people have been evacuated to shelters and the city's infrastructure has been completely shattered. Five hospitals are flooded, 58 schools are inundated and over 700 kilometers of roads have been destroyed.
MILLIONS IN THE SHADOWS
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But the tragic deaths are only part of the story. The millions who survive have lost literally everything. Over 4 million people have been directly affected across these three nations. 3 million in Thailand, 1.1 million in Indonesia, and over 1.1 million in Sri Lanka. In fact, if we talk about Indonesia alone, nearly 2 lakh 90,000 people have been displaced, forced into crowded shelters where sanitation is a crisis waiting to explode. In Lanka, over three lakh families have been affected, their homes submerged, their fields salted by storm surges.
And here is what the headlines do not tell you. These are not just numbers. These are farmers whose rice paddies are now toxic lakes. These are rubber tapers in southern Thailand whose plantations have been completely wiped out. The shopkeepers whose inventory have been rotted in black water with no insurance to fall back on. This is just the short-term impact.
The long-term impact on livelihoods is catastrophic. In Sri Lanka, hundreds and thousands of acres of farm land has been destroyed, threatening food security for months, perhaps years. In Indonesia, over 3,000 homes have been submerged and have been completely swept away. The infrastructure has taken a serious hit. Destroyed bridges, severed highways, collapsed power grids which will take months if not years to build.
A RECKONING
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The final toll will be much higher. We all know this. Rescue teams are still digging through mud, still pulling bodies from rivers, still trying to reach villages that have been cut off for nearly a week now. The people who are still missing across these three nations are likely dead, buried under tons of debris or swept out to sea.
But beyond the bodies, beyond the immediate horror, there is the slow poison of what comes next. Poverty, diseases, hunger, and most terrifyingly, displacement. This is not a disaster that ends when the water recedes. This is a disaster that will define the next decade for millions of people.
And we must ask ourselves, are we witnessing the new normal? Because these storms including cyclone Sinar, cyclone Ditwahs are not anomalies. They are the new normal of warming planet. And right now that geography is barring close to 1,000 of our fellow human beings under layers of mud, water, and indifferences. END OF TRANSCRIPT