San Francisco Frontiers - 'I feel like crying': Indonesians confront flood destruction

A small sign is still there, offering a simple sentiment: "My house is small, not a billionaire's palace. But it is here to offer us peace and joy. Amen."

But for Merliana and her husband, the mud-strewn remains of their household in flood-hit Tukka village now offer little of either.

The pair managed a terrifying escape last week as floodwaters that have killed more than 800 people threatened to envelope them and their child.

Back to see what could be salvaged, the 58-year-old rice farmer waded through the muddy brown slick covering every floor of her home and extending up the white-washed walls.

"Everything was destroyed," she told AFP.

"How do I feel seeing my home, the one I've lived in for so long, destroyed like this? I feel like crying," she said, surveying the damage.

"We have so much debt. But now, there's nothing left to hope for. Everything is destroyed. We don't know what we'll eat tomorrow."

Only those items high up on the walls -- two framed paintings of Jesus and photos of the couple's daughters -- were left unscathed by the floodwaters that rushed into their home.

"In my entire life, there had never been a flash flood this high here. But the rain kept pouring," said Merliana.

The family initially moved to a raised platform behind their house as the waters continued to rise, but ran out of food.

A neighbour helped guide them and relatives through the floodwaters to higher ground, but they were out in the open, still struggling to survive.

"We wanted to evacuate, but the water was too strong. We had no choice but to stay there. I was freezing, and so was everyone else. The children kept crying," Merliana recalled.

Merliana's husband Edo Sitompul said he was worried about the future.

"If there is no assistance to repair this house, to fix this road, this road access, this river access, we are left in uncertainty," he said.

"We hope the government will repair everything quickly."

- 'Trauma' -

Nearby, Lestari Manurung waded through the waters that have still not entirely receded from the village's thoroughfares.

Left homeless by the floods, she was looking for a way to reach relatives in the city of Medan.

Floodwaters carried a barrage of logs that battered her home, she said.

Like many others across the flood-hit region, she said she was astonished by how quickly the water had arrived.

"I was sad because it is all gone. It's like a dream, how could the waters could rise this fast. (I couldn't) save my things," she added, saying she was left with a feeling of "trauma".

The 45-year-old fruit seller managed to find shelter at an evacuation centre, but said there was limited food.

"We were sick of eating instant noodles, but better than not eating, dying of hunger," she said.

"Hopefully there will be help for us victims," she added.

"The important thing is a house. Just a simple house, so we can return."

Q.Nelson--SFF