A boy sits with items salvaged from the ruins of a family member's house in the Balaroa neighborhood in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia Indonesia, Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2018. Desperation was visible everywhere Tuesday among victims receiving little aid in areas heavily damaged by a massive earthquake and tsunami, four days after the disaster devastated parts of Indonesia's central Sulawesi island. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
A boy sits with items salvaged from the ruins of a family member's house in the Balaroa neighborhood in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia Indonesia, Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2018. Desperation was visible everywhere Tuesday among victims receiving little aid in areas heavily damaged by a massive earthquake and tsunami, four days after the disaster devastated parts of Indonesia's central Sulawesi island. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Palu, Indonesia — Aid was trickling into areas devastated by the earthquake and tsunami that struck a central Indonesian island, with one neighborhood’s residents clapping, cheering and high-fiving in their excitement this morning at seeing a stopped truck laden with supplies.

“I’m so happy,” said Heruwanto, 63, who goes by one name. He was clutching a box of instant noodles. “I really haven’t eaten for three days.”

Food, water, fuel and medicine had yet to reach the hardest-hit areas outside Palu, the largest city heavily damaged in Friday’s disasters.

Many roads were broken and split by the violent shaking or are blocked by debris and communications lines are down in the damage zone.

“We feel like we are stepchildren here because all the help is going to Palu,” said Mohamad Taufik, 38, from the town of Donggala, where five of his relatives still are missing. “There are many young children here who are hungry and sick, but there is no milk or medicine.”

The official death toll this morning was 1,234 and hundreds were injured, but officials acknowledge scores of uncounted bodies still could be buried in collapsed buildings in Sigi and Balaroa.

The U.N. humanitarian office said “needs are vast,” with people urgently requiring shelter, clean water, food, fuel and emergency medical care.

Water is the main issue because most of the supply infrastructure has been damaged, U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York.

More than 25 countries offered assistance after Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo appealed for international help. Little of that, however, has reached the disaster zone, and increasingly desperate residents grabbed food and fuel from damaged stores and begged for help.