Survivors relate grim stories after flood
Survivors relate grim stories after flood
Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Langkat, North Sumatra
The devastating flood in Langkat regency, North Sumatra, that
killed more than 100 people, has ingrained sorrow into the hearts
of survivors.
Adi Lukman, 27 and his wife Amanah, 25, could hardly come to
terms with the events that took their eldest daughter Sherly
Pensil Pania away from them, as a flash flood struck the hilly
area where the family live in Bahorok, on Sunday night.
The flood wrenched Sherly, 5, from her mother's grasp. As
Amanah watched the strong currents swept her child away. Sherly's
body was found by the Search and Rescue Team (SAR) a day later.
Amanah recounted that the flood had initiated in the lower
areas, due to rain on Sunday night. She had seen several houses
were already inundated by water, but she believed that the water
was not high and manageable.
She said that her husband left the house to help a neighbor
fix his house's roof.
But, water slowly seeped into Amanah's house. She remembers
waking up her two children.
"They wrapped their arms around me, I carried them as they
clung to my body. I was about to bring them out from our home...
Suddenly our house collapsed. It was hit by water and logs from
above," said Amanah.
Amanah said that they were trapped in the house as her leg had
been caught under a wooden log.
"As I was about to free my leg Sherly was lost from my grasp.
She cried help me mother, help me," said Amanah, weeping.
On Monday, as her daughter's body was about to be buried
Amanah lost control, unable to contain her grief.
"Forgive me, Sherly," she cried, while trying to hug her
daughter's body, which was already wrapped in a white shroud.
Sartik, 44, survived the flood after a six-hour fight against
the strong currents and the dangers of the huge logs, which at
any moment might have pounded her body. She was finally found in
a paddy field some 15 kilometers away from her house.
Villagers first saw her staring into the sky, pinned under a
log. She was tightly holding a gold bracelet.
"The bracelet was the only belonging she had. She had not
wanted to sell it as she had bought it with great effort from
selling food," Darna, her son, told The Jakarta Post at the
location.
According to Darna his family had initially stayed in their
house when the flood swept the area. They were about to flee when
a strong current tore them apart.
Darna had managed to save himself by climbing into a cave --
usually used by tourists to enjoy Bukit Lawang's scenic views --
but he was unable to rescue his mother.
"That night, cries for help were repeatedly heard from people
who had been carried away by the flood. After fighting the
currents for two hours I managed to reach a cave. By that time
many had already sought refuge there," he said.
Darna's father, the 48-years old Darno, was also found alive.