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View all search resultsSumatra flood victims scrounge for supplies after disaster
She was one of the lucky ones on Wednesday, when soldiers in military fatigues oversaw the distribution of rice to flood survivors.
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Villagers receive free sacks of rice from the Indonesian Military, distributed amid relief efforts from the government's rice warehouse at Sarudik, in Central Tapanuli, North Sumatra province, on December 3, 2025. (AFP/YT Hariono)
U
nder a scorching sun, Nur Apsyah waited in line with hundreds of others, hoping to secure some of the food aid in short supply in 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.
