For fisherman Effendi Basyaruddin, the recent deadly floods and landslides across Aceh province have reopened old wounds from the day the sea rose like a wall and smashed through his town 21 years ago.
Nearly 200,000 people died in Aceh after a 9.1-magnitude earthquake off the province sparked the catastrophic Indian Ocean tsunami on December 26, 2004. “I saw the highest wave during the tsunami, about 20 metres high,” Effendi said. “But the flooding was greater … villages became a river.”
Those memories resurfaced as cyclone-driven floods and landslides struck three provinces on Sumatra island this week. More than 800 people have died in Indonesia, including over 200 in Aceh, while the same storm systems killed about 200 people in Thailand and Malaysia.
Effendi, 64, lost his house and now lives in a tent near the sea, which he described as both friend and foe. Reaching isolated communities and getting aid to those in need has compounded residents’ suffering.
“Aceh right now is like experiencing a second tsunami,” Governor Muzakir Manaf said.
With excavators clearing mud and people searching ruins where homes once stood in Aceh Tamiang, residents said urgent needs include clean water and food. “The settlement was completely destroyed, as if hit by a tsunami,” said 45-year-old Adi Hermawan. He added that many victims may remain unaccounted for and are hard to locate.
Local leaders have urged the central government to declare a national emergency to unlock more funds for rescue and relief. “The amount of victims is extraordinary. People’s houses are gone. There is no attention from the central government,” North Aceh leader Ismail A. Jalil said in a video shared by local outlet Narasi.
The central government said it supports local authorities and that a 500 billion rupiah ($30 million) disaster relief budget is available and can be increased if necessary. President Prabowo Subianto, when asked about declaring a national emergency, said the situation was improving and that current arrangements were sufficient.
