Nearly three weeks after devastating floods hit Aceh province in Sumatra, officials report 1,030 dead and 205 missing. Entire villages, homes and palm oil plantations have been buried by mud, driftwood and debris, leaving many displaced and without livelihoods. Survivors and civil society groups are demanding a national disaster declaration and international assistance, while the president says Indonesia has the resources to respond and has declined foreign offers. UN agencies say they are assessing requests to support early recovery.
Aceh Floods Devastate Communities — Survivors Plead For International Aid As Death Toll Tops 1,000
Uprooted trees swept away by flash floods have ravaged homes and businesses in Indonesia's Pengidam village (Yasuyoshi Chiba)(Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/AFP)
Nearly three weeks after catastrophic floods tore through parts of Sumatra, residents of Aceh province are struggling to rebuild amid mounting loss and frustration. Official figures released this week put the death toll at 1,030, with 205 people still reported missing after one of the deadliest natural disasters to strike the region since the 2004 tsunami.
Forty-year-old Nurlela Agusfitri returned barefoot to Pengidam village to find her home and the small kiosk she ran swept away. "I saw my house destroyed, swept away by the water. My belongings were scattered everywhere," she told AFP. "I cried when I saw it. Oh God, it was so difficult for me to build this house. Where will I go after this?"
The landscape across many affected areas has been radically altered: mud, toppled trees and drifting logs have buried homes, roads and palm oil plantations, leaving many families without livelihoods. Villagers who once relied on palm oil work and livestock now face displacement and uncertain futures.
"People don't even recognise the boundaries of their homes around here," said Cahyo Aulia, 31, describing how drifting logs flattened his house and scattered neighbourhoods.
Public anger and activism have grown as survivors, student groups and civil society organisations press the central government in Jakarta to declare a national disaster and open the door to international assistance. Organisers in Banda Aceh said a formal declaration is essential to speed resources and coordination; one protest placard declared the demand "non-negotiable."
President Prabowo Subianto has maintained that Indonesia has sufficient capacity to respond, noting that the floods affected parts of three provinces out of 38. He announced plans for a government task force to oversee rehabilitation and reconstruction and said he had so far declined foreign aid.
Local NGOs and community leaders disagree. Surya Firdaus, founder of the Beulangong Raja Aceh Foundation, urged Jakarta "to lower its ego and accept foreign aid," arguing cooperation with international partners would accelerate relief. Provincial officials say they have contacted several United Nations agencies experienced from the 2004 tsunami response; UNICEF and UNDP have acknowledged requests and are assessing priority needs and early recovery support.
Residents point to the 2004 recovery as an example of how foreign assistance can help speed reconstruction. "Foreign assistance was very helpful then," said Revi Rinaldi, whose food stall now serves as a makeshift shelter, "but today, with the wider impact, we wonder why international aid hasn't been fully accepted."
Back in Pengidam, survivors face immediate needs for shelter, clean water, food and land for reconstruction. "We are wondering where we'll go after this if there's no government assistance," Nurlela said. "Even if we get housing assistance from the government, we have no land anymore."
Immediate needs: displaced families require emergency shelter, clean water, medical care and food; long-term recovery will demand land, housing, livelihood support and coordinated national-international rebuilding efforts.
