The Albany Gazette - Survivors pick up pieces in flood-hit Indonesia as more rain predicted

Indonesia has borne the brunt, with its toll rising to 837 dead and 545 missing, authorities said, many in Sumatra's northern Aceh province where more than 800,000 people have been displaced. Sri Lanka has reported 486 deaths, Thailand 276 and Malaysia two.

Many survivors in Sumatra were counting the cost of the deluge that started last week, leading to destructive flash-flooding and landslides.

"Our house was covered by soil up to the ceiling," said Rumita Laurasibuea. "Around the house, there were piles of wood."

The 42-year-old government employee, now sheltering in a school, told AFP that recovering from the flood's impact "could take more than a year."

"This is a calamity we must face," added Hendra Vramenia, 37, who fled his village of Kampung Dalam in southeastern Aceh.

"Possessions can be regained," he told AFP, saying he remained worried that people in remote areas risk starvation.

Hendra said he would consider evacuating his family to his

"I will evacuate the children and family there first. Or I might also consider renting a house for the family," he added.

- 'Still worried' -

Indonesia's meteorological agency warned Aceh could see "very heavy rain" through Saturday, with North and West Sumatra also at risk.

Indonesian flood victims said fresh rain was likely to bring fresh misery.

"We are still worried... If the rain comes again, where can we go? Where can we evacuate?" asked Rumita.

In Sri Lanka, authorities said floodwaters had begun to recede, but residents face a mammoth clean-up.

In the central town of Gampola, residents worked to clear the mud and water damage.

"We are getting volunteers from other areas to help with this clean-up," Muslim cleric Faleeldeen Qadiri told AFP at the Gate Jumma Mosque.

"It takes 10 men a whole day to clean one house," said a volunteer, who gave his name as Rinas.

"No one can do this without help."

- 'Criminal prosecution' -

Two separate weather systems dumped massive rainfall on all of Sri Lanka, Sumatra, parts of southern Thailand and northern Malaysia last week.

While across Asia seasonal monsoons bring rainfall that farmers depend on, climate change is making the phenomenon more erratic, unpredictable and deadly across the region.

But environmentalists and Indonesia's government have pointed to the role forest loss played in the flash flooding and landslides that washed torrents of mud into villages and stranded residents of rooftops.

Indonesia is among the countries with the largest annual forest loss due to mining, plantations and fires, and has seen the clearance of large tracts of its lush rainforest in recent decades.

Jakarta on Wednesday said it was revoking environmental permits of several companies suspected of worsening the disaster's impact.

Eight companies will be summoned on Monday in a probe, Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq said.

Should evidence show corporate involvement in illegal logging or land clearing, which aggravated the disaster, "investigations could escalate to criminal prosecution", Hanif said.

The scale of the disaster has made relief efforts challenging.

Indonesia's government this week insisted it could handle the fallout, despite public outcry that not enough was being done.

burs-jhe/abs

(O.Garcia--TAG)