Tangerang on high alert for floods

As heavy rain continues to pour down, the Tangerang regency's administration declared high alert status on several districts in the regency and prepared a disaster response team (Tagana) to mitigate the effects of possible flash floods.

“We hope that the Tagana team members have prepared well to anticipate the floods because we are more prone to them now,” the regency secretary Hermansyah said Monday.

A number of disasters - including strong wind that damaged 645 houses, several floods with uncounted losses and fire which burned 47 houses - have hit the regency since January, he added.

Meanwhile, Tagana chairman Endang Aryadi said a high alert status was imposed on several districts prone to flooding in the regency because of continuous raid drops over the past few weeks.

“We have prepared a number of rubbers boats, army tents and staple foods for precaution. During this alert status, we call on people to be prepared for floods that are likely to occur at anytime,” he said, adding that the Tagana team members would keep on patrolling flood prone areas across the regency.  

The regency’s public work agency recorded that there were 32 flood spots in 13 districts, that passed over Cisanade, Cimanceuri, Cidurian, Cirarab and Ciujung rivers.