“SECOND TSUNAMI”
In a village in West Sumatra province, where authorities have reported at least 90 deaths, Afrianti Usnia was clearing her house of mud and debris.
When the flood hit, she only managed to grab a few items of clothes for her baby before fleeing to a relative’s house.
“The water came like a big wave. All my belongings are gone,” the 39-year-old housewife told AFP.
“I’m still traumatised, but our life is in this village. I hope the government can be fair. We have often been affected by floods, but we have never received assistance from the government.”
Authorities have conducted a weather modification operation to divert the rain, and distributed aid using planes and warships to the affected areas.
But videos have surfaced online of looting, reportedly because some residents did not know when aid would arrive.
News portal Detik reported on Saturday that an Indomaret supermarket in Sibolga, North Sumatra, had been looted.
The incident was confirmed by Indomaret marketing communications executive director Bastari Akmal, who told Detik that many roads have been buried by landslides, preventing disaster relief from reaching the location.
Indomaret has not decided whether to pursue legal action, he said, adding “the most important thing is that conditions in the area return to normal soon, and that all forms of assistance arrive promptly”.
Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq said his ministry has deployed a team to conduct a study on the flash floods that struck the three provinces of Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra.
“We will look into the details and take the necessary steps,” he said in Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan, on Saturday, as reported by news agency Antara.
Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has said a cyclone like Senyar, which battered Sumatra, is rare in the Malacca Strait.
“This shows that the climate is no longer predictable, requiring us to strengthen our resilience in protecting nature,” Hanif Faisol said.
He emphasised the need to improve the enforcement of environmental spatial planning and increase efforts to protect, restore and enhance environmental quality, particularly through vegetation measures.
Access and communication in many areas are still cut off.
“The situation in several areas is very critical, with some villages still trapped in floods and inaccessible,” Aceh governor Muzakir Manaf told reporters late Saturday.
“It is as if Aceh is experiencing a second tsunami.”
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/indonesia-sumatra-cyclone-floods-destruction-residents-pick-up-pieces-5498106
