Indonesians pick up the pieces after floods ravage Sumatra

Gazing at the destruction in her flood-hit village in Indonesia, Ms Fitriati is in despair and in need of help after the devastating natural disaster that killed hundreds on Sumatra island.

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"This is the first time the flood has been this severe. There were floods before, but not as severe as this," said the 40-year-old woman, who goes by one name, inspecting the damage from heavy monsoon rain.

Of the more than 400 weather-related deaths recorded in the past week on the Indonesian island, at least 54 people have been killed in Aceh province, where Ms Fitriati lives and where nearly 50,000 families have been displaced by flooding and landslides.

For some residents, this has reignited the trauma of a tsunami that ravaged Aceh in 2004, killing more than 170,000 people in the province alone.

"At that time, all I could think about was finding a way to evacuate. We were very scared. Extremely scared," North Aceh resident Maulidin, 41, told AFP.