A

s heavy rain continues to pour down on the archipelago, flood waters persist in engulfing residents in dire predicaments.

In West Java, the provincial administration has increased alert levels as floods are feared to be about to hit areas along its northern coastal regions in February.

'€œAccording to the report, heavy downpours will fall over the northern coast. So, we will focus on there,'€ West Java Deputy Governor Deddy Mizwar said in Bandung on Tuesday, as quoted by Antara news agency.

He said the province was among the areas categorized as prone to disaster so that alertness and preparedness were needed at all times.

'€œWest Java indeed is disaster prone. A landslide can even occur without the presence of rain,'€ Deddy said.

In Cianjur, West Java, dozens of hectares of rice fields and dozens of houses in two subdistricts in Sindang barang district were inundated by floodwaters up to 1.5 meters deep because of the overflowing Muara Cikadu River that passes through the region.

Dozens of hectares of rice fields and shrimp farms in the Cisadea River estuary, the Apra Beach area and the Citoe River estuary in Sagenten subdistrict were also inundated by floodwaters.

In Lebak regency, Banten province, the local Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) announced an alert for floods and landslides caused by high intense rain for the last three days.

'€œWe call on people to be cautious against floods, landslides and strong winds,'€ the agency head, Kaprawi, said.

He said rainfall tended to increase and occur for one to five hours continuously, creating threats of natural disasters.

In North Kalimantan, acting Governor Irianto Lambrie has instructed his staff under the coordination of the provincial secretary'€™s assistant overseeing administration and people'€™s wealth and the BPBD to take necessary measures to deal with floods.

The order was issued following the overflowing of the Kayan River, one of the biggest rivers in Kalimantan, which inundated a number of areas in downtown Tanjung Selor, the provincial capital.

In West Kalimantan, rainwater was reported to have flooded the Ketapang Rahadi Usman Airport up to 10 centimeters deep following heavy downpours that started Monday night.

Areas flooded in the airport compound included one of the area'€™s entrance gates, hangars and areas around the flight control tower. Despite the flood, the flight schedule at the airport remained unchanged and ran normally.

In Central Kalimantan, the North Barito regency administration has also implemented a flood alert status as six of its nine districts have been inundated by floodwater 1 to 2 meters deep.

North Barito BPBD head Guntur Pardede estimated that hundreds of houses in the regency had been flooded.

Meanwhile, the South Sumatra provincial administration had made assurances there would be sufficient aid for people in the province'€™s 17 regencies and cities should they encounter natural disasters.

'€œAt this moment every regency and city already has aid supplies for disaster victims, including food, blankets, tents and evacuation equipment,'€ South Sumatra Social Affairs Agency social security and aid division head, MS Sumarwan, said in Palembang on Tuesday.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) said that in the next seven days rain of medium to high intensity was expected to fall over northern Sumatran regions, Bangka Belitung; Serang; Jakarta; West Java; Central Java; East Java; southern, central and eastern Kalimantan regions; southern, central and southeastern Sulawesi regions; Maluku and western and southern regions of Papua.

The BMKG has also warned that heavy rain accompanied by lightening and strong wind might hit Ban-
ten, Jakarta, West Java, Central Java, East Java, Bali, West Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa Tenggara, Central Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, Central Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, South Sulawesi and Papua in the same period.