Survivors pick up pieces in flood-hit Indonesia as more rain predicted

TUKKA, Indonesia – Survivors in Indonesia were piecing back shattered lives on Dec 5 after

devastating floods killed more than 1,600 people

across five countries, with fears of fresh misery as more rain looms.

Indonesia has borne the brunt of the disaster, with its toll rising to 867 dead and 521 remaining missing, the authorities said. Many are in Aceh province on the island of Sumatra, where more than 800,000 people have been displaced.

Sri Lanka has reported 607 deaths, Thailand 276, and Malaysia two. At least two people were also killed in Vietnam after heavy rain lashed the country and triggered more than a dozen landslides, state media said Dec 5.

On Indonesia’s Sumatra island, many survivors were counting the cost of the deluge that started last week, leading to destructive flash flooding and landslides.

“Our house was covered by soil up to the ceiling,” said Ms Rumita Laurasibuea. “Around the house, there were piles of wood.”

The 42-year-old government employee, now sheltering in a school, told AFP that recovering from the flood’s impact “could take more than a year”.

“This is a calamity we must face,” said Mr Hendra Vramenia, 37, who fled his village of Kampung Dalam in south-eastern Aceh.

“Possessions can be regained,” he told AFP, saying he was worried people in remote areas may starve.

Mr Hendra said he would consider evacuating his family.

“I will evacuate the children and family there first. Or I might also consider renting a house for the family,” he added.

‘Still worried’

Indonesia’s meteorological agency warned that Aceh could see “very heavy rain” through Dec 6, with North and West Sumatra also at risk. It was again raining hard in Aceh’s capital, Banda Aceh, an AFP correspondent said.

Flood victims said fresh rain was likely to bring new misery. “We are still worried... If the rain comes again, where can we go? Where can we evacuate to?” asked Ms Rumita.

Aid organisations said access to many remote areas remained blocked, with roads and bridges cut off. “The impact of the floods is widespread,” said Mr Ade Soekadis, executive director of Mercy Corps Indonesia.

The affected area across three provinces in Sumatra is larger than Bangladesh, he told AFP.

“The scale is extraordinary, with hundreds, possibly thousands, of villages in 50 districts affected.”

In Sri Lanka, the authorities said flood waters had begun to recede, but residents face a mammoth clean-up.

In the central town of Gampola, residents worked to clear the mud and water damage.

“We are getting volunteers from other areas to help with this clean-up,” Muslim cleric Faleeldeen Qadiri told AFP at the Gate Jumma Mosque.

“It takes 10 men a whole day to clean one house,” said a volunteer, who gave his name as Rinas.

“No one can do this without help.”

‘Criminal prosecution’

Two separate weather systems dumped massive rainfall on all of Sri Lanka, Sumatra, parts of southern Thailand and northern Malaysia last week.

While across Asia seasonal monsoons bring rainfall that farmers depend on, climate change is making the phenomenon more erratic, unpredictable and deadly.

Environmentalists and Indonesia’s government have pointed to the role of forest loss in the flash floods and landslides that washed torrents of mud into villages and stranded residents on rooftops.

Indonesia is among the countries with the largest annual forest loss due to mining, plantations and fires, and has seen the clearance of large tracts of its lush rainforest in recent decades.

Jakarta on Dec 3 said it was revoking environmental permits of several companies suspected of worsening the disaster’s impact.

Eight companies will be summoned on Dec 8 in a probe, Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq said.

Should evidence show corporate involvement in illegal logging or land clearing, which aggravated the disaster, “investigations could escalate to criminal prosecution”, Mr Hanif said.

The scale of the disaster has made relief efforts challenging, but Indonesia’s government this week insisted it could handle the fallout, despite public outcry that not enough was being done. AFP