Day off: Students attempt to clean mud from the entrance to Hidayatul Atfal primary Islamic school in Kalirejo village near Bojonegoro town, East Java, on Monday. School was cancelled due to flooding in the school’s classrooms. JP/ANTARA/AGUK SUDARMOJO

Floods spread across Central Java on Monday following continuous rain, raising fears the Bengawan Solo river would burst its banks and cause greater destruction.

In Cilacap regency, around 1,000 residents were evacuated to higher ground and hundreds of homes were inundated, although waters in the eastern part of the regency had begun to subside.

Heru Susedyo, head of Majenang, one of the affected districts, said some of the evacuees had to take shelter in temporary homes built on stilts and that other families had sought refuge at the local sports stadium.

Heru said the floods were an annual event, but one resident said it was the first time the local school had ever been flooded.

“Now, we have water up to 40 centimeters in classrooms,” said Misjo, a teacher.

Locals said thousands of paddy fields in the area would be damaged, but no casualties had been reported.

Landslides in the area also damaged dozens of homes in the same district.

“Many homes here are built on slopes,” Misjo said.

Landslides also struck in the nearby Banyumas and Banjarnegara regencies, as well as in Wonosobo regency, which is located at the foot of Sindoro mountain.  

The neighboring Jepara regency also experienced floods, but no casualties were reported.

No casualties had been reported since Sunday, when six people were killed by flooding and landslides in a number of regencies in Central Java.

“The flood is due to the river overflowing. This is the second flood since last January,” Jepara National Search and Rescue team representative Endra told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

Meanwhile, floods in Cepu, Blora, caused by runoff from the Bengawan Solo river, which runs through Central and East Java, had started to recede.

“Yesterday, flood water reached one meter. We’re hoping it doesn’t rain anymore up river, otherwise all of us down here will be flooded,” Cepu resident Sujatmiko said.

The Bengawan Solo river flows through the fertile and dense areas of Central and East Java.

“I’m also worried about potential rain in Madiun [East Java],” Sujatmiko said.

“If it pours heavily there, all rivers near it will carry more water down to the Bengawan Solo and we’ll suffer floods again”.

Floods last year inundated never-before-affected sites, including elite residential areas in the town of Bojonegoro.

Local administrations have prepared public kitchens, rubber dinghies and medicine and have put search and rescue teams on high alert.

In Kudus, district head Eko Dwi Jatmiko said the flooding of dozens of homes in the area was down to an inadequate drainage system.

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