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loods triggered by heavy downpours have continued to spread in Sumatra over the past few days, with the latest incidents isolating thousands of villagers in Jambi and affecting hundreds of others in Aceh.

In Merangin regency, Jambi, 1,200 residents of Tanjung Berugo subdistrict, Lembah Masurai district, were cut off early on Thursday after a flash flood from the overflowing Incin River swept away the only bridge connecting the village with surrounding areas.

The flood hit at 3 a.m. local time after a series of heavy downpours and immediately swept away the 20-meter bridge.

Local resident Abdullah said villagers therefore could not flee when the flash flood took place.

'€œI was shocked to see the bridge disappear after being hit by the flash flood,'€ Abdullah said on Thursday over the phone.

Meanwhile in Aceh, flooding has been seen across Aceh Besar following prolonged heavy rain in the regency'€™s mountainous areas.

The local administration recorded that the floods began on Tuesday evening. At least five villages in Seulimeum and Lembah Seulawah districts have so far been affected by the disaster, which has inundated hundreds of houses in the areas.

'€œBeureunuen village is so far one of the worst-hit areas, with flood waters reaching up to 2 meters,'€ National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said on Wednesday.

Sutopo said local disaster mitigation agencies had set up public kitchens and temporary shelters for affected residents.

In Riau, four villages in Kampar Kiri Hulu district, Kampar regency, which had been cut off since November because of floods and landslides, could finally be reached overland from the district capital.

'€œAlthough land transportation has yet to fully recover, at least access has reopened,'€ Riau Social Affairs Agency head Syafruddin said on Thursday.

Around 3,000 families in the villages struggled to survive for more than two months after the natural disasters cut transportation links.

Separately, Kampar Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) head Santoso said he had submitted a proposal to the BNPB to restore the damaged road and increase aid for residents in the four villages.

'€œWe have reported the situation in the four villages and the BNPB has approved giving Rp 200 million [US$14,800] for the provision of foodstuffs and clearing the road buried by the landslide,'€ he said.

After a prolonged dry season, the rainy season finally arrived in many parts of the country last month.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has warned that several areas, including North Sumatra, West Sumatra, Bengkulu, Jambi and South Sumatra, could be prone to flooding on account of heavy downpours.

Meanwhile, other regions, including Bengkulu, Aceh, southern parts of West Java, parts of Central Java and West Nusa Tenggara, were said to be prone to landslides.

Last month, more than a dozen villagers in Lebong Tandai, North Bengkulu, were killed when a landslide triggered by heavy rainfall hit their homes as they slept.