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Flood kills 3, submerges 5,700 houses in Pasuruan
Three residents died and another is missing after a huge flood inundated more than five districts in Pasuruan regency, East Java, on Saturday afternoon
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hree residents died and another is missing after a huge flood inundated more than five districts in Pasuruan regency, East Java, on Saturday afternoon.
Floodwaters were still high in many of the affected areas on Sunday, Antara state news agency reported.
Soenarto, the Pasuruan administration head for social protection, health and welfare, said the flood inundated at least 5,713 houses, 1,022 hectares of paddy fields and 125 hectares of fish farms.
At least 14 of the houses suffered medium to severe damage, he added.
The flooding also swept away two bridges in Oro-oro Ombokulon village in Rembang district.
“The flood inundated houses at Pohjentrek, Kraton, Pandaan, Rembang and Bangil districts,” Soenarto was quoted by Antara as saying on Sunday.
He identified the victims killed in the flood as Suyanto, Tirto Utomo and Rohman, and Ihya
Ulumuddin as the missing resident. Suyanto died after being hit by lightning during heavy rain that caused the flood, while the bodies of Tirto and Rohman were retrieved after being swept away by the floodwaters.
As many as eight goats and two cars were also reportedly swept away by the floodwaters.
A joint team comprising of police and army officers has been deployed to help victims. Local authorities set up temporary public kitchens as posts before distributing aid to residents still in their houses.
Many victims fled their homes and sought shelter at mosques and schools on Saturday, but were returning home on Sunday as floodwaters began to recede.
Some local residents have begun to clear their homes of the debris caused by the flood.
According to local residents, it was the biggest flood in recent years in Pasuruan, with floodwaters reaching up to 2 meters high in some areas.
The disaster that hit Pasuruan followed the collapse of a 182-meter embankment at Manaruwi village in Bangil district.
Floods and landslides often hit regions across the country during rainy season.
On Friday, landslides occurred in a number of areas across Central Java, including in Brebes
regency.
Following several hours of heavy rain, at least two houses were severely damaged when a four-
meter-high embankment collapsed into them, in Karangpari subdistrict, Brebes, early on Friday morning.
On Christmas Eve last month, incessant rain in the southern part of Bandung, West Java, flooded some parts of Majalaya and cut off the main road linking the capital of West Java and Majalaya.
Floodwaters from the overflowing Citarum River submerged many parts of Majalaya, including Cibodas, Majalaya itself.
