Aid reaches Aceh flood victims

Victims finally get emergency supplies a week after flash floods caused havoc.

flooded houses in Aceh Tamiang East Aceh
The government blames illegal logging for the deadly floods [EPA]

Tonnes of food, water, tents and medical supplies have been sent and flown into the main cities and towns in areas hit by the flash floods triggered by torrential rains.

 

Slow relief

  

But slow distribution of food sparked anger in Aceh as around 100 flood victims, most of them mothers carrying their children, looted an aid distribution post in Payabedi.

 

Some 400,000 people fled the floods, with 365,335 people displaced in Aceh province alone as whole villages were swallowed. Hundreds of hectares of rice paddy have also been destroyed just ahead of the harvest.

  

With water levels dropping in many areas, more than 100,000 people have returned home to face a massive clean-up of mud-filled houses.

 

The government has blamed illegal logging as one of the causes of the deadly floods, and pledged to intensify its efforts to replant forests.

  

In June, floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains killed more than 200 people in South Sulawesi province.

Source: News Agencies