Death toll passes 900 after devastating Indonesia floods

The death toll in Indonesia from recent flooding has passed 900, with hundreds still missing.

More than 100,000 homes were destroyed when a rare and powerful cyclone formed over the Malaca Strait last week, bringing torrential rain and landslides to parts of the South East Asian country.

Efforts to reach people in areas still cut off are ongoing, with aid having to be airdropped into some places.

The Indonesia floods were one of several extreme weather events to hit Asia in recent weeks, with the cumulative death toll in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam approaching 2,000.

In Aceh Tamiang, one of the hardest-hit areas of Indonesia, survivors described villages being entirely swept away by fast-moving deluges.

One survivor in Lintang Bawah Village told the BBC Indonesian service that people survived by sitting on top of their homes.

Fitriana said: “There were also those who survived on the roofs of their houses with their four-year-old children, for three days without eating or drinking.”

She said around 90% of the homes in her village were destroyed, leaving 300 families with nowhere to go.

One man recounted how he and his family were evacuated by boat when the floodwaters inundated his home up to the second floor, only for them to need to flee again from a nearby village.

He said: “That night, while we were sleeping, water suddenly soaked the mattresses we were sleeping on [in Gampoeng Dalam Village]. But we couldn’t go anywhere else, because there was no higher ground.

“Luckily, my daughter-in-law’s house was on two levels. So we climbed upstairs and that’s where we survived.”

The region’s governor said response teams were still searching for bodies in “waist-deep” mud, according to the AFP news agency.

He said: “Many people need basic necessities. Many areas remain untouched in the remote areas of Aceh.

“People are not dying from the flood, but from starvation. That’s how it is.”

Indonesian media reported inmates were released from one prison when floodwaters threatened to engulf the facility, with officials saying there was nowhere else for them to be sent.

Land access to two areas, Sibolga City and Central Tapanuli, remained cut off as of Sunday, with aid only able to reach them by air and sea respectively.

There have been reports of looting at supermarkets in some areas.