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Floods, landslides kill four in East Java
Heavy downpours in several parts of East and West Java over the past few days have led to floods and landslides
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Heavy downpours in several parts of East and West Java over the past few days have led to floods and landslides.
The disasters have killed three people in Bojonegoro and one in Malang in East Java, and disrupted railway links in Garut, West Java.
In Bojonegoro, 15-year-old Sanun from Sunan village, Malo district, was found dead Monday after being swept away by the heavily swollen Bengawan Solo River. Suparmin, 40, of Ngeringinrejo village, Kalitidu district, was also found dead Monday after being washed away by floods.
“We are still identifying the third victim, a man,” Jhony Nurhariyanto, head of the Bojonegoro administration’s public relation division, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
“He died from electrocution in Kuncen village, Padangan district.”
The overflowing of the Bengawan Solo’s 18 tributaries also swept away four homes in Gomangan village and one in Bakalan, both in Tambakrejo district. Rising floodwaters also disabled three bridges in Bakalan.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Jhony said, the water level in the Bengawan Solo River was still on the rise.
Antoyo Dwipratikto, head of the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency in Karangploso, Malang regency, said heavy rainfall was expected to continue well into March.
“The average rainfall in the past month is between 300 and 500 millimeters. It poses high risks of floods,” he said.
Major floods and landslides killed one person in Malang municipality and isolated several villages. Sheela S., 16, of Jl. Sukun VI, was found dead Monday in the bushes by a tributary along the Kebonagung highway in Pakisaji district.
“Her body was swept away by the fast currents in the afternoon,” Agung Sukarno, head of the Malang Disaster Management Unit’s operational division, said Tuesday.
Heavy downpours have also sent huge amounts of loose volcanic scrabble down the slopes of Mt. Kelud toward Malang and Kediri regencies, creating major mudslides in Ngantang district, Malang regency, and inundating the four districts of Ploso Klaten, Kepung, Puncu and Pare in Kediri.
The mudslides destroyed the bridge connecting Malang and Blitar regencies, effectively paralyzing any activities between the two regencies since Monday night. No fatalities were reported so far from the mudslides.
In Kediri, the swollen Srinjing River has isolated the three villages of Sapak, Mangli and Puncu, after the bridge connecting them was washed away by rising waters.
In Garut, West Java, a 75-meter stretch of the southern railway line was buried Tuesday in up to 6 meters of mud, between Cipeundeuy and Bumi Waluya stations, some 40 kilometers from Bandung, completely cutting off the route.
No fatalities were reported so far, but more than 10 trains plying the route had to reroute to the northern line through Cikampek-Cirebon, adding more than five hours to their travel time.
Bambang Setya Pramono, spokesman for state-owned railway operator PT KAI’s Bandung Operational Region, said it would take at least three days to clear the mud covering the railway tracks.
In Bandung, floods have inundated nearly 500 homes, forcing more than 400 people to evacuate to makeshifts refugee tents. Some have complained of rashes and diarrhea due to the lack of clean water.
