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s rain intensifies, mud floods have become a real threat along 12 rivers originating from Mount Merapi and their tributaries due to thick piles of volcanic materials following the big volcanic eruptions.

Mud floods on Tuesday and Wednesday caused a complete halt for hours along the Yogyakarta-Magelang route as volcanic sands and rocks overflowed into a road section in Muntilan, Central Java, about a meter deep.

“I have to go around a bit through Surakarta, thanks to the mud flood,” said Sujadi, who wanted to travel to Semarang from Yogyakarta on Wednesday.

Merapi eruptions this year, the biggest ever in its recorded history, are estimated to have spewed a total of some 150 million cubic meters of volcanic materials.

The material fully filled the 12 rivers originating from Merapi as far as 17 kilometers from the peak of the volcano, ready to turn into mud floods whenever heavy downpours hit. More than 30 hectares of rice fields in Bantul regency were submerged in volcanic sand when the flood previously destroyed at least five bridges.

This prompted the regency administration to allocate Rp 1.5 billion to rehabilitate the damage. Mud floods are also threatening some 13,000 people living on the banks of Code River in downtown Yogyakarta, prompting the municipal administration to allocate a total of Rp 14 billion to deal with the disaster.

Hundreds of houses are submerged in the mud as floods have occurred at least once a week lately. The provincial administration has told the city administration to prepare temporary shelters for affected people.