Indonesia's toll rises from deadly Sumatra floods
STORY: Survivors of the weekend flash floods and mudslides in Indonesia's West Sumatra are desperate to find missing loved ones.
64-year-old survivor Fitrawanis watches and waits outside the ruins of her brother's house.
Water swept him away when he tried to save his mother-in-law.
"I hope that his body can be found quickly, either alive or dead."
The disaster struck Tanah Datar, one of the three districts in West Sumatra, on Saturday evening.
On Wednesday, the death toll rose above 60, authorities said.
Heavy rains unleashed flash floods, landslides, and cold lava flow, a mud-like mixture of volcanic ash, rock debris and water.
23-year-old survivor Roza Yolanda says she was washed away by the flood.
"At that time I was checking my mobile phone, and there was a text from my sister who said she couldn't come home because it was raining heavily. After that, I heard a very loud thunderous sound, then I turned off my mobile phone. Suddenly the lights went out and the water rushed in, I didn't have time to stand up, and I no longer had time to run and was just washed away by the flood."
The national disaster and management agency will continue to search for the missing people and clean the main roads, its head said in a statement on Wednesday (15 May).
Indonesia's meteorology agency said it planned to try to mitigate heavy rainfall by 'cloud seeding.'
Widely used in Indonesia, cloud seeding involves shooting salt flares into clouds to trigger rainfall in dry areas and break up clouds before they reach wetter ones.
Authorities expect the heavy rain to continue until next week.
