'I was scared of dying' Survivors clung on to trees as their houses were swept away

Aminah Ali, 63, was at home in the Pidie Jaya district of Indonesia’s Aceh province when the rains started at midnight on Wednesday. The waters rose gradually. It seemed like the usual flooding that happens during monsoon season, but then came a loud roar of water: her village was suddenly inundated.

- Hidayatullah Pidie, Rebecca Ratcliffe

With help from her son, she managed to clamber on to her rooftop, where she waited for 24 hours. Flood waters 3 metres high stretched into the distance. “I saw many houses being swept away,” she said. “Now my house is ruined, full of mud. I never imagined a situation like this. All my possessions are gone.”

The monsoon season often brings heavy rains that cause flooding or trigger landslides, but the levels over recent days have been far more devastating. More than 1,100 people have been killed across four countries in southeast Asia, with 600 killed in Indonesia after the seasonal rains combined with tropical cyclones to inundate the region.

Busra Ishak, 60, also from Pidie Jaya, lost his house, which was swept away without a trace. “There were hundreds of tons of logs [in the water], and even an elephant could be killed by the incredibly strong current,” he said.

He survived by grabbing on to a coconut tree, where he stayed for more than 12 hours. One of his older sisters was killed. He still has not been able to tell relatives outside Aceh province because electricity and phone lines are down.