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  Yahoo News 26 Dec 06
New woes for Aceh as floods kill 90, force 300,000 to flee
by Adek Berry

Yahoo News 25 Dec 06
Troops, volunteers in bid to rescue Indonesian flood victims

Yahoo News 24 Dec 06
Some 70 dead, 200,000 homeless in Asia floods
by Nabiha Shahab

Yahoo News 23 Dec 06
Indonesian floods leave 12 dead, 70,000 homeless

JAKARTA (AFP) - Twelve people are dead and dozens remain missing while more than 70,000 have fled their homes as floods swept the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

Villagers immediately blamed the floods on illegal logging while authorities were pushing the rescue efforts further into remote areas and fearing the worst would be discovered when flood waters subside.

"Until today (Saturday), eight people have died from floods in Matangkuli and Gayo Lues districts," the head of the public relations department in Aceh province told AFP. "We have not been able to assess exactly how many people need to be evacuated, but according to reports so far from six districts 70,000 people have fled their homes." He said that number could increase as communications are extended into isolated areas as heavy rains continue to hamper evacuation and relief efforts.

Meanwhile in the province of North Sumatra another four people died and 12 were missing, Langkat district spokesman Sam Sumarno told ElShinta news radio.

"We fear when the tide rises, combined with continued rains from upstream, the situation will be much worse," he said.

Heavy rains in Langkat, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) northwest of the North Sumatra provincial capital, Medan, have struck the area over the past week, Efrizal, a volunteer told AFP from the worst affected area. "Last night when the current calmed, we went around the villages to evacuate people and found them under the roofs of their homes and some had climbed trees," he said, adding that water levels had reached five to eight metres.

In Langsa, police diverted traffic as floods cut off the main road connecting the town with Medan and Banda Aceh, capital of Aceh province. "Part of the main road is submerged by one metre (yard) of water. We have to divert traffic in Langsa from continuing to Medan," a police officer in Langsa, who declined to give his name, told AFP "Many of the villages ... are flooded," he said.

Purnomo Rizal of the Riau disaster mitigation office told state newsagency Antara that water volume was above normal level and river banks could no longer been seen. "We ask villagers to be on alert as river currents are very strong. Some of them have evacuated themselves to their relatives' homes," Rizal said.

Langkat district head Syamsul Arifin blamed rampant illegal logging in nearby Gunung Leuser National Park as the main cause of heavy flooding. "Irresponsible logging in Gunung Leuser National Park caused us this disaster," Kompas daily reported him as saying.

Illegal logging in the national park was also blamed for flash floods in North Sumatra in 2003, which killed hundreds of people.

Last June, floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains killed more than 200 people in South Sulawesi province.

Separate floods killed more than 20 people and forced 40,000 people from their homes in Borneo in the same month.

Yahoo News 24 Dec 06
Some 70 dead, 200,000 homeless in Asia floods
by Nabiha Shahab

JAKARTA (AFP) - Nearly 70 people have been killed and 200,000 forced to flee their homes in flash floods that have swept through parts of Indonesia and Malaysia in the past week.

In Indonesia, the death toll has risen to at least 61 and hundreds more remained missing after torrential rains battered the island of Sumatra. More than 110,000 people have been displaced in Aceh province, devastated by the 2004 tsunami.

Officials in Malaysia said seven people had been killed and nearly 90,000 others were forced to evacuate their homes in the worst floods to hit the country in decades.

Villages in Indonesia's Aceh province have been swallowed by flood waters up to eight metres (more than 26 feet) deep following a week of torrential rains as meteorologists said the rainy season was reaching its peak across Sumatra.

"We have not been able to evacuate more victim's bodies since this morning. The number so far has been 60 bodies from Aceh Tamiyang district," Ghufran Zainal Abidin, the local chairman of the Prosperous Justice Party, told AFP from the worst-affected area on Sunday.

"The Aceh Tamiyang area is surrounded by water and the only way we can get around is by boat," said Abidin, who is helping to coordinate the flood relief effort.

Entire villages have been washed away in Aceh Tamiyang, where the flimsy houses were built from bamboo and wood. "I have received reports that Limo Mukur village has been washed away by the current and we have not found residents of that village," provincial spokesman Nurdin Joes told AFP.

Earlier, officials said hundreds of people had been reported missing in the district. The local capital Kuala Simpang was still cut off from rescue teams, Abidin said. The floods have also forced tens of thousands to flee their homes and take refuge in state-run camps.

North Aceh deputy district head Nasruddin told AFP "one person was killed, four reported missing and more than 110,000 people fled their homes in North Aceh."

The army and Indonesian Red Cross were rushing in aid supplies. Authorities feared the death toll could climb further, as rescue crews had not yet been able to reach some affected areas.

In other parts of northern Sumatra, water levels continued to rise as heavy rains showed no sign of abating and a dam had burst. The main roads connecting provinces of West Sumatra and Riau are cut off, Kompas daily reported Sunday.

Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla has blamed illegal logging in part for the deadly floods, and pledged that the government would intensify its efforts to replant the forests.

In neighbouring Malaysia, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi lashed out at looters who had taken advantage of the chaos sparked by the devastating floods, urging the public to make citizen's arrests if they witnessed any wrongdoing. "Make a citizen's arrest. There is nothing wrong with that. You cannot just leave it to the police if you see something (wrong)," he was quoted as saying by the Sunday Star newspaper during a visit to flood-hit Johor state. "Do not allow this to go on. Do not wait for the public to act, but all those (helping in the relief) should take action against the looters."

Reports of looting have surfaced in Johor, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan and Pahang states in north and central Malaysia. Police have so far arrested five people in Kota Tinggi, one of the worst-affected areas of Johor state, where at least 2,400 homes are still under water.

Tens of thousands of Malaysians were on Sunday still living in government emergency shelters that were starting to run out of essential supplies.

Rosleli Zahari, political chief of the ruling United Malays National Organisation in Kota Tinggi, estimated that losses could total millions of ringgit. "Houses, cars, palm oil estates and fish farms are damaged," he said.

"The flood situation is still bad but it seems to be improving. We pray the rain will stop," he added.

Yahoo News 26 Dec 06
New woes for Aceh as floods kill 90, force 300,000 to flee
by Adek Berry

BIREUEN, Indonesia (AFP) - Two years after the devastating tsunami, Indonesia's Aceh province was grappling with more tragedy after floods and landslides killed at least 90 people and left thousands waiting to be rescued.

Troops and volunteer rescue workers were attempting to reach thousands of people trapped by the floods, which have forced around 300,000 to flee their homes on the island of Sumatra.

Aceh was the worst hit, with 60 dead in one district alone as the region prepared to mark the second anniversary of the December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean catastrophe. Whole villages have been swallowed by flood waters following a week of torrential rains.

Aceh governor Mustafa Abubakar said six helicopters were transporting supplies to people stranded by the floods. A navy warship was already in the area with another on the way, said Abubakar, who is coordinating relief and rescue efforts.

"Relief efforts are starting to be more coordinated. We've started dropping relief supplies from the air in isolated areas," he told AFP.

Only house roofs and the minarets of mosques showed above the muddy brown waters in the worst-hit district of Aceh Tamiyang in aerial photographs taken by the Aceh and Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency. Villagers were shown sheltering on higher ground surrounded by flood waters, with some people floating precariously on logs.

Some 150,000 people in Aceh Tamiyang have taken refuge on higher ground but water levels remained high, local police chief Agus Santoso told ElShinta news radio. "Water levels in the upstream areas in Aceh Tamiyang remain about two metres (more than six feet) in some areas. The area is surrounded by rivers and the water level has not receded," he said.

Villagers said they were running short of food. "We have not received any food, we have not eaten rice for five days. We're surviving on sweet potatoes and bananas," Anto, a resident of Tenggulun village in Aech Tamiyang, told ElShinta. "Many children are getting sick with fever and diarrhoea," he said.

In North Aceh, two people were killed and more than 140,000 people fled their homes, deputy district head Nasrullah told AFP. "We need food, clothes and tents for the displaced people," he said. "Water has receded in some places, but it's flowed to lower areas and flooded more villages," he said.

In the neighbouring province of North Sumatra, at least 19 people were killed in a landslide which buried dozens of houses while nine others died in the floods. Television pictures showed villagers perched under makeshift shelters along railway tracks built on banks which remained above the waters.

"We are now concentrating on evacuating people who are trapped in their homes in the town of Kuala Simpang in Aceh Tamiyang district," Ghufran Zainal Abidin, the local chairman of the Prosperous Justice Party, told AFP from the worst-affected area.

"We have not received any more reports of dead victims as we are concentrating on saving the ones that are trapped in flooded spots," said Abidin, who reported 60 dead in Aceh Tamiyang district Sunday.

Around 1,000 troops have been dispatched to Aceh and North Sumatra along with heavy equipment and helicopters, Commodore Mohammad Sunarto Sjoekronoputro said, according to the official Antara news agency. Two Hercules transport aircraft loaded with tents, field kitchens and inflatable boats were being sent to the affected region.

Floods also hit neighbouring Malaysia, where seven people were killed in the worst affected southern state of Johor. Some 74,000 were still sheltering at relief centres.

Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla has pointed the finger at illegal logging as one of the causes of the deadly floods, and pledged that the government would intensify its efforts to replant the forests.

Last June, floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains killed more than 200 people in South Sulawesi province. Separate floods killed more than 20 people and forced 40,000 people from their homes in Borneo in the same month.

Yahoo News 25 Dec 06
Troops, volunteers in bid to rescue Indonesian flood victims

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AFP) - Indonesian troops and volunteer rescue workers have been attempting to evacuate thousands of people trapped by flash floods which have killed at least 62 and forced more than 140,000 to flee their homes on the island of Sumatra.

The tsunami-ravaged province of Aceh at the northern tip of Sumatra was the worst-hit, with 60 dead in one district alone as the region prepared to mark the second anniversary of the December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean catastrophe.

Whole villages have been swallowed by flood waters following a week of torrential rains. Only house roofs and the minarets of mosques showed above the muddy brown waters in the worst-hit district of Aceh Tamiyang in aerial photographs taken by the Aceh and Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency. Villagers were shown sheltering on higher ground surrounded by flood waters, with some people floating precariously on logs.

"We are now concentrating on evacuating people who are trapped in their homes in the town of Kuala Simpang in Aceh Tamiyang district," Ghufran Zainal Abidin, the local chairman of the Prosperous Justice Party, told AFP from the worst-affected area.

"I wasn't able to enter Kuala Simpang yesterday (Sunday), the current was very strong and only rubber dinghies can get through, which is making evacuation efforts difficult," he said.

"We have not received any more reports of dead victims as we are concentrating on saving the ones that are trapped in flooded spots," said Abidin who reported 60 dead in Aceh Tamiyang district Sunday.

Around 1,000 troops have been dispatched to Aceh and neighbouring North Sumatra along with heavy equipment and helicopters, Commodore Mohammad Sunarto Sjoekronoputro said, according to the official Antara news agency. Two Hercules transport aircraft were to due to carry tents, field kitchens and inflatable boats to the affected region Monday, it said. In North Aceh, "two people were killed, four are still missing and more than 140,000 people fled their homes," North Aceh deputy district head Nasrullah told AFP.

"We need food, clothes and tents for the displaced people," he said. "Water has receded in some places, but it's flowed to lower areas and flooded more villages," he said.

Six of 17 districts in Aceh were affected by the floods, with Aceh Tamiyang on the border with North Sumatra province being the worst hit. In hard-hit Langkat district of North Sumatra, rescue workers struggled to reach those in need, with waters still nearly a metre high (three feet) in some places.

Rampant illegal logging in Gunung Leuser National Park is one cause of the heavy flooding in North Sumatra and Aceh. Illegal logging in the national park was also blamed for flash floods in North Sumatra in 2003, which killed hundreds of people.

The government has blamed destruction of the country's forests for floods and landslides and pledged four trillion rupiah (440 million dollars) annually beginning next year to replant them.

Last June, floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains killed more than 200 people in South Sulawesi province. Separate floods killed more than 20 people and forced 40,000 people from their homes in Borneo in the same month.
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