Indonesians scramble for food and supplies after devastating floods

Under a scorching sun, Nur Apsyah waited in line with hundreds of others, hoping to secure some of the food aid in short supply in Indonesia's flood-hit Sumatra. She was one of the lucky ones on Wednesday, when soldiers in military fatigues oversaw the distribution of rice to flood survivors. Her town Sibolga has been almost entirely cut off after damage to access routes, leaving residents with no electricity and dwindling food, fuel and water.

"It has never been like this in Sibolga before," said the 28-year-old, who waited at the state-owned rice warehouse in neighbouring Sarudik with her parents. "There is no food, the money has run out, there are no jobs. How can we eat?" she said. Flooding and landslides last week killed more than 770 people and buried homes, washed away bridges and severed transportation links across the island of Sumatra.

With many areas inaccessible by land and more rain expected, humanitarian groups warned the scale of rescue and recovery efforts was unprecedented. While the seaside town of Sibolga in Central Tapanuli district escaped the worst of the flood damage, it was left without electricity and little access to the rest of the country.

Nur called the situation an "emergency," adding that people recently looted minimarkets in town. "Imagine, people who should not have done that, did it because there is no helping hand from the government," she told AFP. Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Pratikno said that the rice handouts were part of its efforts to "ease the people's burden."

AFP saw the lucky recipients on Wednesday have their fingers marked with ink to prevent double distribution and hoarding. Some men tossed the 50-kilogram rice sacks on their backs, while women placed them atop their heads to carry them away. Queues outside the warehouse and fuel pumps have begun to improve, though forecasts of fresh rain have raised fears of new damage and worsening shortages. Many stores in Sibolga remain shuttered with no electricity supply after the disaster. The few that remain open depend on generators.

Local resident Sahmila Pasaribu told AFP she spent hours searching for essential supplies. Even if she had the money, she said "there is nothing that can be bought." "It's sad that because of the disasters like this, everything is scarce: fuel, rice, cooking oil," the 55-year-old said. At a local government-owned water company office in Sibolga, Sopian Hadi filled gallon containers as a queue stretched behind him. He said he has regularly visited the office over the past week after landslides disrupted the water line to his house.

"We need (water) for our daily lives... water is our source of life," the grocery store owner, 30, said. Other supplies are limited, and he described queuing for six hours to fill his motorcycle gas tank. Despite the circumstances, Sopian said he refused to be beaten down by the situation. "I am not desperate, because to survive, (we) can't despair."