Gale-force winds leave one dead, 26 injured

Hours of gale-force winds and heavy rain hit Tirtayasa district in Serang regency yesterday, causing the death of one resident, 26 others injured and 400 houses seriously damaged.

“We are yet to calculate the material loss this time as we are still focusing on the victims and how to be better prepared in the future,” Tirtayasa district chief Mas Alan Affandi said Monday.

He said the local administration would be erecting emergency tents to accommodate the homeless and that it would also provide food, water and medical supplies.

“The strong winds came amid heavy rain on Sunday afternoon. It suddenly smashed everything. Luckily, none of my family members were injured,” said Sadan, 45, a resident of Tengukrak village.

Temporary data collected by the Serang Disaster Mitigation

Agency (BPBD) showed that the gales had also damaged 21 other houses and 19 large animal-husbandry cages.(dic)