Indonesia: Hunger Looms After Floods Leave Over 900 Dead

Devastating floods and landslides have left over 900 dead in the Indonesian island of Sumatra, the national disaster management agency announced on Saturday, with concerns that the death toll may worsen due to food shortages. The catastrophic convergence of two tropical cyclones and the monsoon season caused the deaths of around 1,800 people in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. From these victims, 908 perished on the tourist island of Sumatra in western Indonesia, as reported by the local disaster management agency on Saturday, with over 400 people still missing. However, the number could increase due to hunger lurking in villages and ‘areas that remain inaccessible in the remote regions of Aceh,’ warned Muzakir Manaf, governor of the ‘completely destroyed’ province, ‘from north to south, from roads to sea.’ ‘Many people need basic necessities,’ he told the press. ‘People are not dying from the floods but from hunger,’ he cautioned. According to the Indonesian meteorological service, rains could return on Saturday to Aceh and Sumatra, where water and mud have buried the homes of many residents.