FOR three days torrential rains had been ravaging Biring Ere village, North Sinjai, South Sulawesi. Last week Monday, the water quickly surged at the foot of Suratis home on the banks of the Bua River. Initially, the 48-year-old widow remained calm. After all, water from the river used to flood the ground floor of her wooden house when it rained.

Gradually, however, she began to panic. Water mixed with trash kept rising: 1 meter, 2 meters, and sti