Death toll from devastating Indonesia floods passes 900

The death toll in Indonesia from recent flooding has passed 900, with hundreds still missing.

More than 100,000 homes were destroyed when a rare and powerful cyclone formed over the Malaca Strait last week, bringing torrential rain and landslides to parts of the South East Asian country.

Efforts to reach people in areas still cut off are ongoing, with aid having to be airdropped into some places.

The Indonesia floods were one of several extreme weather events to hit Asia in recent weeks, with the cumulative death toll in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam approaching 2,000.

In Aceh Tamiang, one of the hardest-hit areas of Indonesia, survivors described villages being entirely swept away by fast-moving deluges.

One survivor in Lintang Bawah Village told the BBC Indonesian service that people survived by sitting on top of their homes.

Fitriana said: "There were also those who survived on the roofs of their houses with their four-year-old children, for three days without eating or drinking."

She said around 90% of the homes in her village were destroyed, leaving 300 families with nowhere to go.

One man recounted how he and his family were evacuated by boat when the floodwaters inundated his home up to the second floor, only for them to need to flee again from a nearby village.

He said: "That night, while we were sleeping, water suddenly soaked the mattresses we were sleeping on [in Gampoeng Dalam Village]. But we couldn't go anywhere else, because there was no higher ground.

"Luckily, my daughter-in-law's house was on two levels. So we climbed upstairs and that's where we survived."

Sources-bbc.com