Flooding wipes out bridge, capsizes boat in Simpang Jernih

Here is the river in Aceh Timur between Simpang Jernih and Pante Kera where the raft cable broke, leaving people stranded on either side with no way to cross.  Robert and Junaidi are currently in Simpang Jernih and now stuck there like everyone else (with time to take scary videos like this). They reported that yesterday, a wave hit a passenger boat on the way from Kuala Simpang just as it was approaching this area, breaking the boat apart and sending 15 people into the river. Luckily, no one was badly injured, but this is another example of how difficult it is for people in this area to accomplish things that most of us take for granted, like getting to the hospital if we need to, or going to the next town over for supplies.  Nothing doing here until the rains stops, the river goes down, and the raft cable gets fixed. 

Are you wondering why this area never received a dime of reconstruction assistance?

Me too!