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Floods destroy hundreds of hectares of rice fields
Drowning houses: Residents gather outside their flood-submerged houses in Teluk Bakung village, Tanjungpura district, Langkat regency, North Sumatra
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Drowning houses:: Residents gather outside their flood-submerged houses in Teluk Bakung village, Tanjungpura district, Langkat regency, North Sumatra. Floods have engulfed houses and destroyed hundreds of hectares of rice fields in five districts in the regency. (JP/Apriadi Gunawan) (JP/Apriadi Gunawan)
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span class="inline inline-center">Drowning houses: Residents gather outside their flood-submerged houses in Teluk Bakung village, Tanjungpura district, Langkat regency, North Sumatra. Floods have engulfed houses and destroyed hundreds of hectares of rice fields in five districts in the regency. (JP/Apriadi Gunawan)
Hundreds of hectares of rice fields and horticultural plots in Langkat regency, North Sumatra, were reported to have been destroyed by floods.
On Friday, floods in the regency continued to expand to a number of other districts following heavy downpours over the area since Thursday afternoon.
'Many of the rice fields and horticultural areas experienced harvest failures because the floods have not yet subsided,' plant pest coordinator of Langkat Agriculture Agency, Miswandi, told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
The agency reported that heavy rain had caused flooding in a number of rice producing areas.
Among the areas flooded were Secanggang, Gebang, Babalan, Pangkalan Susu, West Berandan and Tanjungpura districts, Miswandi said.
In Secanggang, floods inundated 222 ha of rice fields, 65 ha of which experienced harvest devaluation. In Gebang, 146 ha of rice fields were inundated by floods, 23 ha of which could not be harvested as a result of the damage sustained.
In Babalan, floodwaters inundated 177.5 ha of rice fields, 15.5 ha of which could not be harvested. In Pangkalan Susu, 20 out of 28 ha of rice fields that were flooded experienced harvest failures.
In West Brandan, 20 ha of rice fields were inundated with floods, eight ha of which could not be harvested.
In Tanjungpura, 137.2 ha of rice fields were flooded, 47.2 ha of which failed to harvest. They were located in eight subdistricts of West Pematang Cengal, Pekubuan, Pematang Cengal, Karya Maju, Baja Kuning, Banyak Island, Cermin Beach and Suka Maju.
Miswandi said floods also caused harvest failures for other plants such as cassava, peanuts, long beans and cucumbers.
He said the harvest failures would disturb the regency's agriculture production this year.
Separately, Langkat Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) reported that floods had been hitting the regency since Wednesday and had not yet subsided as of Friday, with floodwater reaching a depth of between 50 centimeters and 110 cm.
'There are 7,791 people's houses that are currently still inundated with floods,' BPBD head Irwan Syahri said, Friday, adding that the flood had spread to 22 subdistricts in the regency.
Head of Langkat Health Agency, Sadikun Winoto, said that in anticipation of possible diseases caused by floods, his agency had established health posts in 25 locations in the affected areas of Tanjungpura, Batang Serangan, Padang Tualang, Sawit Seberang and Hinai districts.
Sadikun said that most of the people coming to the health posts complained of fever, cough, flatulence, itchiness and hypertension.
'So far the distribution of medicine to the affected people has run smoothly. We have instructed all the health posts and community health centers to remain cautious in evaluating flood victims' diseases,' Sadikun said.
Meanwhile, North Sumatra's Simalungun Regent Jopinus Ramli Saragih instructed district heads to anticipate floods and landsides in their respective areas due to current heavy downpours.
'Prioritize saving the lives of residents, prepare food and medicines,' Saragih was quoted by Antara as saying on Friday.
He said several areas, such as Raya Purba, Girsang Sipangan Bolon and Dolok Panribuan, were prone to landslides since they had hilly features.
While areas, such as Bandar, Pematang Bandar, Dolok Batu Nanggar, Tanah Jawa and Siantar, were prone to floods as they were located in valleys, he added.
