His House Was Badly Damaged By Landslides, Residents Of Agam West Sumatra Expect Huntara

JAKARTA - Residents from Nagari Salareh Aia, Palembayan Regency, Agam, West Sumatra (West Sumatra), Neng Hartati (48) expect the government to immediately provide assistance in the form of temporary shelters (huntara), after the houses of the victims affected by the floods in the area were declared completely damaged.

"The house should be built temporarily first. If possible, it will be relocated to a safe place. At this post, there are many people, there are children, gentlemen. We hope that President Prabowo Subianto can help," said Neng Hartati, quoted from a written statement, Friday, confiscated by Antara.

Previously, it was known that aid such as food, drinks, and refugee camps were provided quickly by the government for disaster-affected residents in North Sumatra, West Sumatra, and Aceh.

Neng Hartati also felt that it was enough with the continuous logistics to flow to the refugee camps.

However, now he and dozens of other refugees at the Nagari Salareh Aia refugee camp need a temporary home to stay because the refugee posts are increasingly crowded with refugees.

In addition, Neng, whose house was damaged by the flood, also had difficulty accessing clean water.

"Born wells are only in the house of some neighbors. We just ride," he said.

Neng Hartati is one of hundreds of residents whose houses were affected by flooding in Palembayan which occurred on Thursday 27 November. He said that in the afternoon at around 17.00 WIB, heavy water suddenly approached from behind his residential area.

Within seconds, the woman who was born and raised in Nagari Salareh Aia had to run to the shelter, which is about four houses from her residence.

"The water is very big. We have all fallen. We can only take cover behind the kitchen of people's houses," he said.

When the water current continued to grow, residents who were trying to save themselves could no longer move far away. They finally held on to the kitchen wall and waited for the water to subside. However, it rained again, the water rose again. Neng along with nine other people were forced to climb into the attic of a resident's house and stay there until 20.00 WIB.

"We were stranded by ten people. It's dark, the water below is still heavy, the lights are off. Only the flashlights are used," he said.

In this tense situation, his 11-year-old son was separated from him. The child was swept away by the current with four of his friends. Neng tried to catch up, but was blocked by the large logs that were carried by the flood.

"Alhamdulillah, the five survived. I just met my son at 22:00 WIB at the post," he said.

After the water receded, residents waited for help to arrive. The family from Pasaman then arrived and helped them walk out through the mud until they reached the bridge and another safe location.

Neng only visited his house on Wednesday, December 3, or six days after the incident. Some of his houses have been buried in mud, including two cars parked inside.

"My heart is destroyed. The house is buried in mud. Nothing can be saved anymore," he said.

At the post, he has lived for one week. The trauma still remains in him. Her husband, who works at the palm oil factory, received special permission to take care of their family after their house was declared completely damaged.

Neng admitted that he could no longer live in his house at this time, although it could later be repaired because he was still traumatized.