appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Aisyah Llewellyn

As Hamdaniyah Surbakti, a 62-year-old resident of Aceh province, began to pick up the pieces of her house that was destroyed by last month’s severe floods, she inevitably thought about the 2004 tsunami that devastated Indonesia and other parts of the world.
“It was worse than the 2004 tsunami,” said Hamdaniyah, referring to the recent torrential rains and flash floods that swept across northern Sumatra.
“When the tsunami came, it only hit one area around [the provincial capital of] Banda Aceh. The flood this time covered almost all of Aceh.”
On December 26, 2004, a 9.1 underground earthquake erupted off Sumatra, with the resultant tsunami killing more than 160,000 people in Aceh alone and levelling entire communities.
At the end of November, heavy rains brought by a rare equatorial cyclone battered North Sumatra, West Sumatra and Aceh, triggering flash floods and landslides that buried villages, cut off roads and displaced millions. More than 1,000 people were killed across Sumatra, according to authorities.
For survivors, the disaster felt more terrifying not because of the death toll but because of its scale and unpredictability.

The trauma has been compounded by slow and uneven recovery efforts, with families struggling to repair their homes, replace necessities and secure enough help to get by each day.
When floodwaters surged into Hamdaniyah’s home in the city of Langsa in Aceh, she was fearful for herself and her family. Her husband, Nurdin, who uses a wheelchair, climbed onto a bed while her sister, Hasbi Surbakti, was also trapped alongside the couple.
“Our neighbours said, ‘OK let’s try and see what we can do’ and hoisted us onto their backs,” Hamdaniyah told This Week in Asia.
When a nearby water catchment area burst, the flood became a torrent of churning mud and debris, causing the three of them to fall.
“I just shouted ‘Help, someone help me’ as I went under,” Nurdin recalled.
Nurdin, 71, said he was still traumatised by the incident, not because he was afraid of dying, but because he did not want to become a fatality far from home in such a dire situation.
“I wanted to die in the comfort of my own house, surrounded by my things,” he said, sobbing as he recounted his experience.


Nurdin and the two women were later carried to a local mosque, where they ate the only food available – a handful of dates. It was a full day later before they were given bread and pastries by residents who braved the floodwaters to distribute aid.
“When I left my home, I didn’t even have a 500 rupiah [3 US cents] coin with me. I fled with nothing but the clothes I was wearing,” Hamdaniyah said.
It would be eight days before the family could return to their house, which was by then filled with mud that reached up to their knee level. “We had to pay US$65 for someone to clear it, but they didn’t clean any of the furniture. We had to pay extra for that,” Hamdaniyah said.
In total, the family paid over US$150 to have their house cleaned and electronic appliances, including a fridge and a washing machine, fixed. They received a one-off payment of US$12 from the local government and 20kg (44 pounds) of rice, Hasbi said.
On Thursday, Murthalamuddin, a spokesman for emergency response in Aceh who uses a single name, said residents were lining the roads of the province and raising white flags as they begged for additional aid.
Suraiya, a senior adviser to Aceh Governor Muzakir Manaf, told Indonesian media on Saturday that the floods likely surpassed the 2004 tsunami in terms of the number of areas affected. “The people are extremely angry because we urgently need help. The problem is that while the central government is present, it can’t cover everything.”

In recent weeks, protests have taken place across Aceh, with residents urging the central government to declare a national emergency so that foreign aid can be sent to the province.
There has been speculation among residents that Jakarta’s slow disaster response in Aceh arose from the tense history between the two sides.
From the 1970s, Aceh was embroiled in a long and bloody civil war, which killed thousands of Acehnese and members of the Indonesian military as the Free Aceh Movement called for independence from the rest of Indonesia. In 2005, Aceh was granted special status as a semi-autonomous region of Indonesia.
“During that time, all you had to worry about was being shot, and then you would be dead. This was harder because we lived through it,” Nurdin said.
On Saturday, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto said the central government could manage the disaster response and did not need foreign aid. Jakarta has deployed warships, helicopters and planes to drop food packages into isolated areas across Sumatra.
For Hamdaniyah, such efforts are scant consolation for residents, with the floods compounding their collective trauma from the tsunami and the civil war.
“I haven’t felt deep sadness like this since my daughter died,” she said.

Nurdin and Hamdaniyah’s 26-year-old daughter, Husna Clara, died suddenly due to health reasons in 2019, a week before she was due to be married.
“When the flood hit, I was sure I was going to die, and I thought ‘Well, it’s OK if it means that I can see my daughter again,’” she said.
Hamdaniyah has been visiting her daughter’s grave behind her home every day. She was horrified when she heard from neighbours that the graveyard where her daughter is buried was flooded.
“They said that six bodies – one was buried just three days before – floated up out of the ground and were carried away. The floodwaters tore the funeral shrouds of the deceased, and people could see their hair and faces.”
Hamdaniyah said while the bodies had been reburied, she was worried for a while that Clara could have been among them.
Despite their trying circumstances, Hamdanisyah said her family was “lucky” to have survived the flooding.
“Even though we don’t have much, we still have our house and each other. But I’m not hoping for anything in the future. My heart is broken by everything that has happened.”


Thailand has had enough of foreign tourists behaving badly

How Chinese firms can optimise their ‘going out’ strategy in Southeast Asia

Indonesian coal deal fuels doubts over production quota approvals

Xi’s security chief among cohort of rising officials at White House banquet

Indonesia

Indonesia’s Aceh residents traumatised by flooding – ‘worse than the tsunami’

A staff member works to clean a submerged medical equipment after a flash flood at a hospital in Aceh Tamiang, northern Sumatra, on December 16. Photo: AFP

In the town of Kuala Simpang, Aceh, floodwaters have still not fully drained after the torrential rains and floods that hit Sumatra last month. Photo: Aisyah Llewellyn

Hamdaniyah Surbakti shows a photograph of her daughter Clara who died in 2019, a week before she was due to be married. Photo: Aisyah Llewellyn

Activists protest against the Indonesian government’s alleged inability to handle the Sumatra flood disaster in Banda Aceh on December 18. Photo: EPA

Search and rescue members carry a coffin as they relocate the graves of flash flood victims in Hutanabolon, North Sumatra, on December 18. Photo: AFP

Malaysians fume as Indonesian minister belittles flood aid: ‘just say thank you’

Indonesian Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian as he appeared on the Suara Lokal Mengglobal podcast. Photo: YouTube/HelmyYahyaBicara

People unload aid supplies for distribution in Aceh Tamiang, Indonesia’s North Sumatra province, on Monday following heavy flooding earlier this month. Photo: AFP

Southeast Asian floods set to threaten more wildlife due to climate change

An elephant clearing logs and debris on December 8 in a village affected by flooding in Pidie Jaya, Aceh province, Indonesia. Photo: AP

Deforestation in the mountains of Sumatra driven by oil palm plantations in Aceh, Indonesia. Photo: EPA

People wade through floodwater in Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa province, last month after torrential rain and flooding in four provinces in southern and central Vietnam. Photo: EPA

An argusianus argus, a species of pheasant, seen in Southern Thailand. Photo: Shutterstock

Indonesian elephants tasked to help in flood recovery spur conservation debate

Sumatran elephants deployed to help clear tree debris last week following flash floods in Meureudu, Pidie Jaya district, Aceh province, Indonesia. Photo: AFP

A Sumatran elephant carries a log with its trunk in Meureudu, Pidie Jaya, Indonesia last week after devastating floods hit Sumatra. Photo: EPA

Mahouts riding Sumatran elephants deployed to help clear tree debris last week following flash floods in Meureudu, Pidie Jaya district, Indonesia’s Aceh province. Photo: AFP

Residents search for the remains of their house in a village in Aceh Tamiang, northern Sumatra, last week following flash floods. Photo: AFP

A member of the Tapanuli species of orangutans, which live in south Tapanuli, Sumatra, Indonesia. Photo: Shutterstock

Experts warn Indonesia not to rebuild in disaster-prone zones as Sumatra recovery starts

A fallen tree spray painted with “Help” lies among debris in Aceh Tamiang, northern Sumatra, on Tuesday in the aftermath of last month’s flash floods. Photo: AFP

A farmer repairs his rice field in Langsa, northern Sumatra, on Tuesday after it was damaged by flash floods. Photo: AFP

Activists in Banda Aceh wave white flags to protest against the Indonesian government’s handling of Sumatra’s flood disaster on Thursday. Photo: EPA

A man cooks fried rice for evacuees at a makeshift shelter in Aceh Tamiang, northern Sumatra, on Tuesday. Photo: AFP

This Week in Asia

Health & Environment

News

Asia

Southeast Asia

A month after the disaster, residents are still struggling to recover as anger against Jakarta’s slow rescue response mounts


A month after the disaster, residents are still struggling to recover as anger against Jakarta’s slow rescue response mounts.


Indonesia’s Aceh residents traumatised by flooding – ‘worse than the tsunami’

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}A month after the disaster, residents are still struggling to recover as anger against Jakarta’s slow rescue response mounts

A month after the disaster, residents are still struggling to recover as anger against Jakarta’s slow rescue response mounts