JAKARTA: Flood survivors on Indonesia’s Sumatra island marked Eid Al-Fitr on Saturday with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, as thousands of families remain displaced months after a devastating deluge struck their villages late last year.
In late November, deadly floods and landslides triggered by extreme weather linked to Cyclone Senyar hit the provinces of Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra, killing more than 1,200 people and destroying over 300,000 houses.
Floodwaters and torrents of mud wiped out some villages and overwhelmed others with debris, inundating local communities for weeks to months as access to clean water, food, electricity and medical supplies were cut off.
“Most of the electricity has been restored, almost 100 percent. There are five villages we still have yet to restore in all of Aceh, which are five challenging (locations),” Subianto told reporters after performing Eid prayers in Aceh Tamiang, Aceh.
The province was the worst-hit in the disaster, accounting for a majority of the death toll.
“We’re hoping that the coming new year will be a good one for us all,” Subianto said.
Nearly four months of what local residents say were slow recovery efforts, some 4,700 families are still displaced as of Saturday, according to data published by the National Disaster Management Agency.
Indonesian authorities have built more than 44,000 temporary housing units for Sumatra flood survivors as part of the government’s efforts to replace the tents they were using as shelter after the deluge.
“I have been in this temporary housing for about three months. Our home was completely destroyed,” said Aceh resident Nurita, who was among those who met with Subianto on Saturday.
“When the floods happened, it came to us as a huge surprise. We just thought it was a normal flood, so we didn’t take anything with us when we left the house.”
