Sumatra Floods: Residents Call For Immediate Cleanup To Rebuild Lives

ACEH, Dec 22 (Bernama) -- Nearly a month after massive floods swept through parts of Sumatra, residents in several affected areas of Aceh are confronting a new crisis: millions of logs, carried by powerful currents, still blanket homes, rivers and farmland, making it nearly impossible for communities to rebuild their lives.

For many survivors, the trauma of clinging to electricity poles, oil palm and durian trees, or spending three days and three nights stranded on rooftops without food or clean water, has begun to fade. What weighs most heavily on their minds now is how to start over, as the land and farms that sustained them remain buried beneath towering piles of timber.

“Even if we burn this wood, it will never be finished,” said Suriani Ali Basha, 45, from Kampung Geudumbak in Mukim Langkahan, North Aceh, attempting a faint joke as massive logs surround what remains of her home.

Before the floods, Suriani earned a living from an oil palm plantation. Today, everything has been wiped out.

“I was trapped on the rooftop of a mosque for three days and three nights, with no food or water. I hardly slept because I was afraid I would fall if I closed my eyes,” she said.

To survive, residents collected rainwater using cloth, squeezing it into containers so their children could drink. Other evacuees helped one another climb onto rooftops, while the sick were tied with ropes to prevent them from being swept away.

“We only came down after the water receded. Now we are living in tents outside the village,” Suriani said.

For the village imam, Rustam Abdullah, 49, the receding floodwaters have brought little relief. While food aid has arrived, the vast piles of logs and debris covering farmland have left residents with no clear path forward.

“Some families only have one small plot of land, and that land is their only source of income. Now it is buried under logs and debris washed in by the floods. In this condition, how can they plant oil palms or coconuts again?

“We are all in a daze. Some people are crying, others are restless. It feels like the end of the world,” he added, gesturing towards the wreckage surrounding his own damaged home.

Rustam, who is also a flood victim, vividly recalled the morning of Nov 26, when the water began rising without warning.

“At eight in the morning, the water was only knee-high. We thought it was normal. But by noon, it had reached our chests. We immediately told everyone to evacuate—don’t think about property, save your lives first,” he said.

“By 2 am, the water had surged to nearly five metres, trapping hundreds of residents on rooftops, in trees and on floating debris for almost two days and two nights.

“We had nothing to eat and nothing to drink. The children were crying. We collected rainwater to survive...that was all we had,” he said, adding that at the time, residents did not yet realise their homes and oil palm plantations had been destroyed by waves of logs.

“Houses were smashed by logs. Some were completely buried. When we returned on the fifth day, the houses and land were no longer visible. The logs were piled up almost four metres high,” he said, adding that about 20 neighbouring houses were destroyed.

Another resident, Zainal Abidin, 30, said the one-hectare orchard behind his house, which he planted with durian, corn and bananas, was his family’s sole source of income.

“Nothing is visible anymore. The land is gone. The house is gone. I just hope the logs and debris can be removed immediately,” he said.

Rahmawati Ibrahim, 42, said the lime orchard she had cultivated for the past 10 years was also destroyed.

“That orchard is where I get my food. Now everything is gone. My house is there too. Please remove the logs so we can plant again,” she said.

According to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), at least 1,090 people were killed in the disaster that struck Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra on Nov 26, while nearly 200 others remain missing.

— BERNAMA