\u201cIt\u2019s very challenging logistically to respond,\u201d said Ade Soekadis, executive director of aid group Mercy Corps Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe extent of the damage and the size of the affected area is really huge.\u201d<\/p>\n
The group is hoping to send hygiene equipment and water from Jakarta and locally.<\/p>\n
He said reports of food and water shortages were already \u201cvery concerning\u201d and the situation will be \u201cmore problematic as time goes by\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u2018Like an earthquake\u2019<\/p>\n
At an evacuation centre in Pandan, 52-year-old Reinaro Waruwu said he was \u201cdisappointed\u201d in the government\u2019s immediate response and the slow arrival of aid.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome waited a day and night before receiving help, so they couldn\u2019t be saved,\u201d he said, surrounded by evacuees sitting on mats on the floor in the hall-turned-shelter.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am frustrated, it doesn\u2019t need to be said twice,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He described the floodwaters and landslides as unprecedented.<\/p>\n
Indonesian rescuers search for missing people after flash floods in Padang Panjang. Photo \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cIt came like an earthquake … I thought \u2018Well, if I am going to die, then so be it\u2019,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Traumatised, he could not even eat on arrival and food had only been patchily available, though vegetables arriving on Tuesday offered a \u201csemblance of hope\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n
Nearby, Hamida Telaumbaunua, 37, described watching her entire kitchen swept away by floodwaters.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy heart … this was the first time I experienced such a flood,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Her home was lost entirely, with everything but the few possessions she took when she left.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard to think about what lies ahead. Maybe as long as we\u2019re still here, it\u2019s okay, but later … I don\u2019t know what will happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
In North Aceh, 30-year-old M. Atar said some areas were only just becoming accessible as roads were cleared.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are in dire need of clean water. Very much in need,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The weather system that hit Indonesia also brought heavy rains to Thailand, killing at least 267 people, authorities said on Wednesday, and Malaysia, where two people were killed.<\/p>\n
Sri Lanka \u2018open\u2019 for tourists<\/p>\n
Though floods are common in Asia during monsoon season, climate change is making heavy rain events more frequent because a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture.<\/p>\n
Warmer oceans can also turbocharge storm systems.<\/p>\n
A separate weather system, Cyclone Ditwah, brought torrential rain and deadly floods and landslides to much of Sri Lanka last week.<\/p>\n
At least 474 people were killed and authorities have estimated the disaster\u2019s cost up to US$7 billion ($12b).<\/p>\n
Another 356 people are unaccounted for, including in some of the hardest-hit regions that remain largely inaccessible.<\/p>\n
Sri Lanka reported 474 deaths, with damages estimated up to US$7 billion, while offering financial aid to affected families. Photo \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n
Officials said laws that allowed a person to be declared dead only after being missing for six months could be shortened to expedite the issuance of death certificates.<\/p>\n
The government has said it will offer 25,000 rupees (US$83) to families to help clean their homes. Those who lost homes will receive up to US$8000.<\/p>\n
On the outskirts of Colombo, R.M.V. Lalith was beginning the clean up at his two-storey home.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe managed to salvage some furniture by moving it upstairs, but the kitchen is a mess,\u201d he said, as a relative helped push mud out of the living room.<\/p>\n
Despite the disaster, the tourism-reliant country welcomed a luxury cruise liner to Colombo port on Tuesday, authorities said.<\/p>\n
The arrival sends \u201ca clear message to the world: Sri Lanka is safe, open and ready to embrace visitors once again\u201d, the country\u2019s tourist board said.<\/p>\n
– Agence France-Presse<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cIt\u2019s very challenging logistically to respond,\u201d said Ade Soekadis, executive director of aid group Mercy Corps Indonesia. \u201cThe…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":177121,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[104028,1884,806,113435,6632,6694,113436,6659,48803,273,24925,19876,3011,37440,78,5696,60319,111,139,69,10711,19328,6695,13913,147,88372,1361,42032,8469,1680],"class_list":["post-177120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-104028","tag-aid","tag-as","tag-await","tag-battled","tag-countries","tag-cutoff","tag-deadly","tag-disaster","tag-environment","tag-flood","tag-flooding","tag-four","tag-frustration","tag-in","tag-indonesia","tag-lanka","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-officials","tag-reach","tag-regions","tag-remote","tag-science","tag-survivors","tag-that","tag-toll","tag-topped","tag-wednesday"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177120\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}