Desperate hunt for food and water as Indonesia floods death toll rises to 502

Silvano Hajid
BBC Indonesian, reporting from West Sumatra

Image source, Minanglipp Volunteer

In the flood-hit city of Bukittinggi, in Sumatra, volunteers are helping distribute aid to residents in districts affected by floods and landslides.

Generators and fuel are prioritised so residents can get electricity. Volunteers are also handing out clothes and food.

With roads cut off and inaccessible to vehicles, volunteers have been transporting aid on foot and on motorcycles.

Image source, Novi Fani Rovika

Meanwhile in Padang city, West Sumatra, resident Novi Fani Rofika tells me that logs, carried by floods and landslides, have piled up along the city’s coastline.

“Thousands of them, just washed up everywhere. They’re logs, proper logs. From small ones to pieces as wide as an adult’s waist,” she said, adding that it’s unclear where they might have come from.

Novi, who lives near the coast, said fishers still cannot go out to sea because the water remains heavily polluted.

“The color is already the same as the river water, yellow and murky.”