Iman Dwianto Nugroho, Jember – Salimah, a woman at her 40s, looked pale. Her clothes blackened with mud, the frail villager has not had food for two days. "Unless food aid is dispatched into our area soon, the death toll, especially among the children, will rise," she told Antara.
Salimah was one of 110 Panti district residents still isolated on Tuesday after flash floods swept through three districts in Jember regency East Java, killing at least 63 people.
Access into the area has been hampered after a main bridge collapsed, preventing rescue workers from evacuating residents and searching for survivors.
Rescue workers moved slowly through Jember on Tuesday battling thick mud and drizzle, and having to ford strong rivers. While some villagers were rescued, others remained trapped in remote areas without food and proper shelter.
Three only helicopters in the area that could have evacuated residents were being used by central government officials to drop food aid into remote areas, Agus Syamsuddin, the chief of local forestry office, told Antara.
Officials believe the death toll is likely to rise as search teams find more people buried in the mud.
Many flood survivors already occupy makeshift shelters in East Java's Sukorambi district, with the luckier ones camped on simple mats in the lobbies of government buildings.
Officials say there is a real fear of a disease outbreak among survivors. "One (person) has already become sick with typhus and has been admitted to the community health center," Sukorambi district government head Ismu Adi said.
Food and medicine aid trickled in on Tuesday into refugee shelters, with large Muslim organizations like Nadhlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah starting to erect public kitchens in several areas affected by the flooding.
Minister of Social Affairs Bachtiar Chamsyah arrived in the area the same day and handed over Rp 500 million in cash to emergency agencies.
As volunteers were busy distributing food and medicine, environmentalists blamed deforestation for the flash floods and landslides.
The floods hit the districts after water catchment areas above villages were destroyed by deforestation from illegal logging, they said. Indonesian Forum for the Environment East Java member Bambang Catur Nusantara said total forest area in Jember had been reduced by more than 21 percent in three years.
However, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and forestry chief Agus Syamsuddin rejected Bambang's analysis, insisting the disaster stemmed from natural causes.
"The rain filled natural reservoirs, lakes and water catchment areas with water. However, apparently the water volume was too large, leading to the flash floods and landslides," Agus said.
The roaring floods and mudslides crushed everything in their path, destroying hundreds of houses, schools, bridges and government offices. About 80 percent of telephone lines in four districts in Jember were down after the flooding, an official said.
Salimah from Panti said it was too early to place blame yet. "We desperately need help," she said.