ACEH TAMIANG: As a consequence of last week’s shattering downpours, survivors in Aceh Tamiang are not just homeless. they are also fighting disease, a faltering healthcare system, and the emotional and psychological impacts of a catastrophe that has left their lives overturned.
At the region’s only hospital, exhausted medical workers scramble to care for dozens of patients amid mud-caked equipment and destroyed medical supplies.
The floods and landslides, triggered by a powerful cyclone, swept across three provinces on Sumatra island, killing at least 940 people and leaving 276 others missing, according to government data. As houses were swallowed by mud and debris, diseases such as diarrhoea, fever, and body aches surged, preying on the vulnerable.
“The environment and places of stay have not recovered post-disaster,” the health ministry said last week, warning that illness was spreading rapidly.
At Aceh Tamiang Hospital, Reuters reporters witnessed the chaos firsthand. Syringes were scattered across the floor, medicines had been swept away, and medical equipment lay coated in thick mud.
“These workers do not know what tired means,” said Ayu Wahyuni Putri, who had just given birth days before the floods struck, describing the tireless dedication of the hospital staff.
Nurse Nurhayati, recounted the heartbreak of being unable to save every life. Staff tried desperately to rescue ventilators in the neonatal intensive care unit, but rising waters claimed the life of one baby while six others survived.
“People know me as a nurse,” she said, her voice heavy with emotion. “When I couldn’t do something, it felt devastating. I can only give the medicine that’s left. I hope the hospital can be fully operational soon.”
Travel to and within Aceh Tamiang remains perilous. Bridges were swept away, forcing doctors like Dr. Chik M. Iqbal to reach the hospital by boat. Emergency rooms across the region are expected to reopen by Monday. The health ministry reports that 31 hospitals and 156 smaller health centers were damaged across the three provinces.
President Prabowo Subianto visited the flood-hit area on Sunday, urging repairs to bridges and dams and calling for the cancellation of state-backed microloans for farmers. Local officials are pressing Jakarta to declare a national emergency to unlock additional funds for rescue and relief operations.
Meanwhile, residents are finding ways to survive amid the destruction. Fourteen-year-old Dimas Firmansyah, a student at a local Islamic boarding school, described how he and other students stayed for a week in the school, taking turns searching for food and boiling floodwater for drinking.
Environmental factors may have made the disaster worse. Green groups say that deforestation linked to mining and logging intensified the floods. Indonesia’s environment ministry has temporarily halted operations at several companies suspected of clearing forests in the affected regions, including North Sumatra Hydro Energy, Agincourt Resources, and state agricultural group Perkebunan Nusantara III.
Currently, families, healthcare workers, and communities are confronted with disease, devastated infrastructure, and a landscape that is continually altered by the waters that can terminate their lives or everything else they have worked for.
