Cyclone senyar’s aftermath leaves indonesian fishers stranded as massive logs clog padang’s coastline

Along the coastline of Padang, Indonesia, hundreds of fishing boats remain anchored at shore—not due to stormy weather, but because massive logs have transformed the waters into an impenetrable wooden maze. The floating timber is a devastating aftermath of Cyclone Senyar, which struck parts of Sumatra in late November, killing residents and destroying infrastructure across the region.

The rare hurricane that formed in the Malacca Strait unleashed torrential rains and flash floods that swept logs downstream from deforested areas, eventually depositing them along Padang’s coast. Some of these logs measure up to 90 centimeters (nearly 3 feet) in diameter, creating an impossible barrier for fishing vessels to navigate. “For the past two days, the logs have been piling up. If we try to go out, the boats could be damaged,” local fisher Syafri Juni explained, highlighting how the disaster has completely cut off the livelihoods of hundreds of fishing families.

The catastrophe underscores a deeper environmental crisis: decades of rainforest clearance have severely compromised Sumatra’s natural ability to absorb heavy rainfall. When Cyclone Senyar—which ultimately killed over 1,000 people across Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Sri Lanka—brought its unprecedented downpours, the degraded landscape couldn’t cope, leading to devastating floods that are now literally washing the consequences of deforestation onto Padang’s shores. The fishing community faces an uncertain future as they wait for the massive timber blockade to clear.