Indonesia’s Aceh residents traumatised by flooding – ‘worse than the tsunami’

As Hamdaniyah Surbakti, a 62-year-old resident of Aceh province, began to pick up the pieces of her house that was destroyed by last month’s severe floods, she inevitably thought about the 2004 tsunami that devastated Indonesia and other parts of the world. “It was worse than the 2004 tsunami,” said Hamdaniyah, referring to the recent torrential rains and flash floods that swept across northern Sumatra. “When the tsunami came, it only hit one area around [the provincial capital of] Banda Aceh....