OCHA Situation Report
Indonesia: Floods in Aceh
26 December 2006


Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

This situation report is based on information received from the RC/HC 
Office in Jakarta, Indonesia and the Office of the UN Recovery 
Coordinator in Aceh and Nias (UNORC).

General Situation

1. Up to 200,000 persons in total have been estimated as affected by 
widespread floods since 22 December 2006 . The confirmed death tool has 
been reportedly now above 100 with several hundreds still missing. The 
United Nations is responding to the request by the Government of 
Indonesia to provide emergency relief to the regions that have been 
affected.

2. The water level in many affected areas has reportedly started 
receding, thus improving road access to Lhokseumawe. However, further 
rainfalls in coming days are predicted and some areas, including many 
IDP sites, are still only accessible by boat. The limited availability 
of fuel for boats is currently posing a difficulty.

3. The Humanitarian Coordinator in Indonesia, a.i. has organised a 
UN/Donor/NGO meeting on 26 December in Jakarta, which was widely 
attended by donors, head of Agencies and NGO directors.

4. There is a strong cooperation between the Government, UN Agencies and 
NGOs, including IFRC.

5. There will be no UN humanitarian Flash Appeal, but an official 
request of US $2 million to the Central Emergency Fund (CERF) will be 
issued by end of this week.

6. Options for coordination arrangement on the ground, including the 
Cluster approach, are being explored.

7. The UN Recovery Framework for Aceh-Nias will probably be revised to 
include early recovery needs related to the current emergency.

8. OCHA Regional Office for Asia-Pacific in Bangkok deployed a Regional 
Disaster Response Adviser to support emergency assessment capacities 
within UNORC.

National/International Response

9. At the provincial government level, an Operations Center has been 
established in the SATKORLAK office in Banda Aceh, consisting of the 
representatives from BRR, SATKORLAK, PIM (Indonesian Red Cross), and the 
Governor's office. The Government will make a Hercules available for the 
humanitarian community to transport stockpiles from Medan to 
Lhokseumawe. Additional government transportation assets, including two 
military helicopters are also on stand by for further needs.

Aceh Tamiang

10. An estimated over 100,000 have been affected in Aceh Tamiang alone, 
making the district most severely affected in the disaster. Over 90% of 
the district is estimated as affected by the floods. At the request of 
the Government, the UN is leading the coordination of relief 
distribution in partnership with the government and NGOs.

11. The first airlift by the UNHAS MI8 has delivered the 1.5MT of 
initial WFP food items at the Paya Bedie landing site on 25 December, 
for distribution through the PMI.

12. The UN Aceh Tamiang floods response team was deployed to coordinate 
the distribution and establish further logistics and distribution plans. 
The UNHAS MI8 is on stand by in the Malikulsaleh airfield, Lhokseumawe, 
and an additional 2.5MT of WFP biscuits is ready for delivery.

13. A convoy of 21 WFP trucks (loaded with 40MT of food items) along 
with several trucks by IRC and the Save the Children (loaded with NFIs) 
departed Banda Aceh for Lhokseumawe today. IFRC trucks carrying NFIs are 
ready to depart. It is also planned that two trucks will be loaded with 
bottled waters in Lhokseumawe.

14. Lhokseumawe is planned to become the hub for the distribution items 
for further delivery by air and land to the affected areas. The 
Government has established POSKO (relief coordination centre) in the 
Lhokseumawe airfield. Depending upon the opening of land access to 
further distribution points, the establishment of a distribution hub in 
Kuala Simpang is also being considered.

15. The Medan-Kuala Simpang route is still blocked whereas the 
Lhokseumawe-Langsa road is open to 4x4 vehicles and the Langsa-Kuala 
Simpang only to 10 wheel trucks. The aid delivery beyond the Kulala 
Simpang point is still deemed difficult, as many IDP sites are 
accessible only by boat.

Aceh Utara/Lhokseumawe

16. The government estimate in Aceh Utara is over 128,000 displaced, 
whose immediate needs include food, water, kitchen sets, and hygiene 
kits, over the next week. According to the latest UN field assessment, 
water levels have dropped from 1.5-2m to 30-60cm.

17. In support of the Government, a response coordination meeting was 
held on 25 December in the newly established UN floods response center 
for Aceh Utara in Lhokseumawe. Next meeting will take place on 27 
December .

Other affected areas

18. In Bener Meriah, 2 sub-districts have been affected with estimated 
over 1,000 IDPs. In Gayo Lues, 180 houses have been destroyed and there 
are an estimated 3,000 IDPs. The Government has requested WFP food for 
both districts. IOM is conducting further assessments on conditions in 
hard to access areas.

19. In Langsa, there are reportedly 3 IDP camps set up, consisting of 
over 3,500 persons. Some organizations have started providing support.

More information

This situation report and maps 
(http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/JOPA-6WUKEY?OpenDocument) 
of the affected areas are available on OCHA's Reliefweb: 
http://www.reliefweb.int


Tel:  +41-22-917 12 34
Fax: +41-22-917 00 23
E-mail: ochagva@un.org

In case of emergency only: Tel: +41-22-917 20 10

UNORC Banda Aceh:
Ms. Satoko Nakagawa, Mobile. +62-811-825.214,
Email: nakagawas@un.org

Desk Officers:
  GVA - Mr. Guido Galli Direct Tel. +41-22-9173171
  NYC - Ms. Ah-Young Kim, Direct Tel. +1-212-963-5131

Press contact:
  GVA - Ms. Elizabeth Byrs, Direct Tel. +41-22-917 2653
  NYC - Ms. Stephanie Bunker, Direct Tel. + 1-917 367 5126

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