Devastating floods and landslides in Indonesia have taken more than 300 lives. Authorities are rushing to reach cut-off areas and save those who are missing. Emergency teams on Saturday struggled to access towns hit by landslides and flash floods. Suharyanto, head of the national disaster mitigation agency, said 166 people died in North Sumatra, 47 in Aceh, and 90 in West Sumatra. Parts of North Sumatra remain unreachable due to broken roads and downed communication lines. Authorities have had to airlift supplies. Heavy machinery is in short supply, slowing rescue work. Ferry Walintukan, North Sumatra police spokesperson, said 31 more bodies were recovered Saturday, raising the death toll to 279 there. Over 3,500 police officers are searching for 174 missing people and helping 28,400 evacuees in shelters. Days of heavy monsoon rain caused rivers to burst, flooding homes and displacing thousands. In West Sumatra's Agam district, about 80 people are still missing, likely trapped under mud and debris. Heavy equipment is urgently needed. In Salareh Aia village, families watched as rescuers pulled bodies from wreckage. Large piles of timber washing ashore on West Sumatra’s Air Tawar Beach raised concerns about illegal logging worsening the disaster. In Aceh province, ongoing rain made using machinery hard. Search teams of police, soldiers, and volunteers had to dig by hand. Suharyanto said, "The death toll is believed to be increasing, since many bodies are still missing, while many have not been reached." Television showed rescue workers in inflatable boats fighting strong currents to reach a man clinging to a coconut tree. Aceh Governor Muzakir Manaf said, "There are many challenges. We have to do many things soon, but conditions do not allow us to do so." Floods in Aceh’s Bireuen district destroyed two bridges, cutting travel between Medan and Banda Aceh and forcing villagers to cross rivers by boat. This disaster adds to Indonesia's long history of natural tragedies. Located on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," the country often faces floods, landslides, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions. Each year, monsoon rains trigger floods and landslides across its 17,000 islands, many with remote mountain or flood-prone communities.