A mahout riding a Sumatran elephant helps clear tree debris following flash floods in Meureudu

Aceh Tamiang became the hardest-hit area in Aceh province, and infrastructure lay in ruins

Entire villages in the lush hills district were submerged beneath a thick blanket of mud

More than 2.6 lakh residents had fled homes that once sat on green farmland

Trucks carrying relief supplies crawled along roads connecting North Sumatra’s Medan city to Aceh Tamiang, which had reopened almost a week after the disaster, but distribution was slowed by debris on the roads, said National Disaster Management Agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari