T

he Sleman administration, Yogyakarta, has issued an emergency situation for five days, beginning Friday, following strong winds, locally referred to as putting beliung, on Friday afternoon that damaged more than 500 houses in the affected areas.

At least 519 houses were destroyed, two people sustained serious wounds and dozens suffered minor injuries after the winds struck 10 hamlets in the Kalasan, Depok and Ngempak districts.

The Yogyakarta Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) said that the strong winds hit the region at 2:30 p.m. for 10 minutes at a speed of 60 kilometers per hour.

“We have declared five days of emergency,” Sleman Deputy Regent Yuni Satia Rahayu told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

She said the local authority needed the emergency response period to restore the situation in the affected areas. The 10 affected hamlets are all are located along the banks of Kuning River.

“We were extremely terrified when the strong winds hit our village. The sound was like an airplane,” said Supri, a housewife from Bromonila, the worst hit village where 299 people’s homes were damaged.

Spokesman from the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said on Saturday that two people were badly injured and were admitted to hospital. The strong winds also uprooted hundreds of trees.

Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said that of the damaged houses, 101 were heavily damaged, 122 were moderately damaged and the other 296 affected were only slightly damaged. The winds also struck 29 livestock cages and a security post.

The twister also disrupted flights to and from Adisucipto International Airport on Friday. A Merpati flight from Bandung had to be diverted to Juanda airport in Surabaya, while a Garuda Indonesia flight from Jakarta returned to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. A Lion Air plane from Jakarta had to circle in the Yogyakarta sky for 15 minutes before it finally landed at Adisucipto airport.

As of Saturday residents, with the help of personnel from the police, SAR, Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) and the BPBD cleared their respective villages of debris..

Endah Triwidiastuti, the regency administration’s public relation division head, said a public kitchen had been set up in Purwomartani.

“Residents whose houses are seriously damaged will stay with neighbors or relatives. We have yet to decide if refugee shelters will be erected,” Endah said.

Deputy Regent Yuni Satia Rahayu said the administration had yet to decide on whether it will provide financial aid to residents whose homes were damaged.

“We are still calculating the funds needed and will see if our budget can cover it.”