JAKARTA, Indonesia — Flash floods on Indonesia’s Siau Island in North Sulawesi have killed at least 14 people and left four others missing as rescuers continued searching through mud and debris, Jan. 6, 2026. The North Sulawesi flash floods were triggered by heavy rain that sent water, rocks and thick mud into residential areas, cutting access routes and damaging homes and public buildings.
North Sulawesi flash floods: Search widens across East Siau
Indonesia’s search-and-rescue agency deployed additional personnel to scour affected neighborhoods and waterways after victims were swept away in the predawn flooding, according to a Reuters report. Local rescue spokesperson Nuriadin Gumeleng said teams were still verifying reports from residents and looking for potential additional missing people.
“We continue to collect data from local residents in case there are more missing people,” Gumeleng said.
Evacuations, blocked roads and emergency measures
Officials said the North Sulawesi flash floods forced hundreds of people into temporary shelters, including schools and churches. Indonesia’s national disaster agency reported 444 evacuees in a situation update, noting heavy equipment was being mobilized to reopen roads clogged with rubble and thick mud, according to a BNPB statement.
Local authorities in the Siau Tagulandang Biaro Islands Regency declared a two-week emergency response period after the North Sulawesi flash floods hit multiple subdistricts, local media reported. The emergency status was set to run from Jan. 5 through Jan. 18, 2026, according to Detik’s coverage of the decree.
Wet-season risk remains elevated
Forecasters have warned that parts of Indonesia, including Sulawesi, are in a peak wet-season window that can heighten the risk of sudden flooding and landslides. The public can find ongoing advisories and official updates through BMKG’s press releases.
For residents in and around Siau Island, that means the North Sulawesi flash floods could be followed by more hazardous conditions if intense rain returns before slopes stabilize and drainage channels clear.
Why the North Sulawesi flash floods fit a longer pattern
While Siau’s disaster is among the deadliest in recent years for the province, North Sulawesi has repeatedly faced damaging hydrometeorological events during heavy-rain periods. In March 2022, floods and landslides in Sulawesi and elsewhere in Indonesia killed at least nine people, with Manado in North Sulawesi also reporting fatalities and damaged homes, according to FloodList’s 2022 report.
In January 2023, flash floods and landslides in Manado City killed at least five people and inundated hundreds of homes after intense rainfall, FloodList reported.
More broadly across Sulawesi, heavy rain has also triggered deadly flooding and landslides in other provinces on the island, including South Sulawesi, where floods and landslides killed 14 people in May 2024, according to Reuters’ earlier reporting.
For now, responders on Siau say the immediate priority is locating the missing and restoring access to communities cut off by the North Sulawesi flash floods, while residents wait for clearer weather and safer conditions to begin cleanup.
