MEDAN: Some residents of the flood-hit island of Sumatra resorted to looting, seeking food and water to survive, authorities said Sunday.
The floods, which hit nearly a week ago, have killed 303 people — with the number expected to rise as more bodies are recovered — and displaced thousands. The deluges triggered landslides, damaged roads, cut off parts of the island, and downed communication lines.
The challenging weather conditons and the lack of heavy equipment also hampered rescue efforts. Aid has been slow to reach the hardest-hit city of Sibolga and the district of Central Tapanuli district in North Sumatra.
Videos on social media showed looters scrambling past crumbling barricades, flooded roads and broken glass to get their hands on food, medicine and gas. Some even waded through waist-deep floodwaters to reach damaged convenience stores.
North Sumatra Police first reported looting incidents on Saturday evening, said police spokesperson, Ferry Walintukan, adding that regional police had been deployed to restore order.
“The looting happened before logistical aid arrived,” he said. “(Residents) didn’t know that aid would come and were worried they would starve.”
Eleven helicopters were deployed from Jakarta to the affected areas the day after the disaster for ongoing logistics distribution operations, especially to the deepest areas and areas where land access was cut off, Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya, said on Sunday, “but unpredictable weather often hampers aid operations.”
The Cabinet Secretariat released footage of the military air dropping supplies on the affected areas. In the dusty village of North Tapanuli, survivors waved frantically to the helicopters carrying aid. Meanwhile, four navy ships docked at a port to support aid distribution.
Indonesia, home to more than 280 million people, is frequently struck by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis due to its location on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin. Seasonal rains also frequently cause flooding and landslides.
Sumatra residents loot for food and water after deadly floods
https://arab.news/grb88
Sumatra residents loot for food and water after deadly floods
- The floods, which hit nearly a week ago, have killed 303 people and displaced thousands
Europeans push back at US over claim they face ‘civilizational erasure’
- “Contrary to what some may say, woke, decadent Europe is not facing civilizational erasure,” Kallas told the conference
MUNICH: A top European Union official on Sunday rejected the notion that Europe faces “civilizational erasure,” pushing back at criticism of the continent by the Trump administration.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas addressed the Munich Security Conference a day after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered a somewhat reassuring message to European allies. He struck a less aggressive tone than Vice President JD Vance did in lecturing them at the same gathering last year but maintained a firm tone on Washington’s intent to reshape the trans-Atlantic alliance and push its policy priorities.
Kallas alluded to criticism in the US national security strategy released in December, which asserted that economic stagnation in Europe “is eclipsed by the real and more stark prospect of civilizational erasure.” It suggested that Europe is being enfeebled by its immigration policies, declining birth rates, “censorship of free speech and suppression of political opposition” and a “loss of national identities and self-confidence.”
“Contrary to what some may say, woke, decadent Europe is not facing civilizational erasure,” Kallas told the conference. “In fact, people still want to join our club and not just fellow Europeans,” she added, saying she was told when visiting Canada last year that many people there have an interest in joining the EU.
Kallas rejected what she called “European-bashing.”
“We are, you know, pushing humanity forward, trying to defend human rights and all this, which is actually bringing also prosperity for people. So that’s why it’s very hard for me to believe these accusations.”
In his conference speech, Rubio said that an end to the trans-Atlantic era “is neither our goal nor our wish,” adding that “our home may be in the Western hemisphere, but we will always be a child of Europe.”
He made clear that the Trump administration is sticking to its guns on issues such as migration, trade and climate. And European officials who addressed the gathering made clear that they in turn will stand by their values, including their approach to free speech, climate change and free trade.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Saturday that Europe must defend “the vibrant, free and diverse societies that we represent, showing that people who look different to each other can live peacefully together, that this isn’t against the tenor of our times.”
“Rather, it is what makes us strong,” he said.
Kallas said Rubio’s speech sent an important message that America and Europe are and will remain intertwined.
“It is also clear that we don’t see eye to eye on all the issues and this will remain the case as well, but I think we can work from there,” she said.
