Officials in Indonesia and Sri Lanka yesterday battled to reach survivors of deadly flooding in remote, cut-off regions as the toll in the disaster that hit four countries topped 1,500.
In Indonesia, survivors expressed growing frustration about the slow pace of rescue efforts and aid delivery, as humanitarian groups warned the scale of the challenge was almost unprecedented, even in a country that has faced no shortage of natural disasters.
Monsoon rains paired with two tropical storm systems dumped record deluges across Sri Lanka, and parts of Indonesia’s Sumatra, southern Thailand and northern Malaysia last week.
Photo: EPA
In Indonesia, 770 were confirmed dead, the country’s disaster management agency said yesterday, revising the toll down from 812 it announced earlier in the day. Another 463 people are also missing.
Information is only trickling in, as many regions remain physically cut off by flood damage, isolated by electricity and communications failures, or both.
“It’s very challenging logistically to respond,” said Ade Soekadis, executive director of aid group Mercy Corps Indonesia. “The extent of the damage and the size of the affected area is really huge.”
Photo: Reuters
The group is hoping to send hygiene equipment and water from Jakarta and locally.
Reports of food and water shortages were “very concerning,” and the situation will be “more problematic as time goes by,” he said.
At an evacuation center in Pandan, 52-year-old Reinaro Waruwu said he was “disappointed” with the government’s immediate response and the slow arrival of aid.
“Some waited a day and night before receiving help, so they couldn’t be saved,” he said, surrounded by evacuees sitting on mats on the floor in the hall-turned-shelter.
“I am frustrated, it doesn’t need to be said twice,” he added.
In North Aceh, 30-year-old M. Atar said that some areas were only just becoming accessible as roads were cleared.
“We are in dire need of clean water. Very much in need,” he said.
The weather system also brought heavy rains to Thailand, killing at least 267 people, authorities said yesterday, and Malaysia, where two people were killed.
A separate weather system, Cyclone Ditwah, brought torrential rain and deadly floods and landslides to much of Sri Lanka last week.
At least 474 people were killed, and authorities have estimated the disaster’s cost at up to US$7 billion.
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