Today's Edition
SIBILGA (AFP)
People in Indonesia's flood-hit Sumatra are facing difficulty securing enough food aid, which is currently in short supply. Flooding and landslides last week killed more than 770 people and buried homes, washed away bridges and severed transportation links across the island.
With many areas inaccessible by land and more rain expected, humanitarian groups warned the scale of rescue and recovery efforts was unprecedented.
Under a scorching sun, Nur Apsyah waited in line with hundreds of others, hoping to secure some of the food aid.
She was one of the lucky ones on Wednesday, when soldiers in military fatigues oversaw the distribution of rice to flood survivors.
Her town, Sibolga, has been almost entirely cut off after damage to access routes, leaving residents with no electricity and dwindling food, fuel, and water.
Waiting at the state-owned rice warehouse in neighbouring Sarudik with her parents, she said, "There is no food, the money has run out, there are no jobs. How can we eat?"
While the seaside town of Sibolga in the Central Tapanuli district escaped the worst of the flood damage, it was left without electricity and little access to the rest of the country.
Nur called the situation an "emergency," adding that people recently looted minimarkets in town.
"Imagine, people who should not have done that, did it because there is no helping hand from the government," she told AFP.
Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Pratikno said that the rice handouts were part of its efforts to "ease the people's burden."
Lucky recipients had their fingers marked with ink to prevent double distribution and hoarding.
Queues outside the warehouse and fuel pumps have begun to improve, though forecasts of fresh rain have raised fears of new damage and worsening shortages.
Many stores in Sibolga remain shuttered with no electricity supply after the disaster. The few that remain open depend on generators.
At a local government-owned water company office in Sibolga, Sopian Hadi filled gallon containers as a queue stretched behind him.
Other supplies are limited, and he described queuing for six hours to fill his motorcycle gas tank.
