M

erangin regency in Jambi province announced on Monday it had suffered billions of rupiah in losses in the past month, after floods damaged 466 buildings, including 453 homes, seven government offices and four schools, as well as three bridges, two dams and three hydropower plants.

'€œThe floods that hit Merangin regency were the worst of the past several years,'€ said Merangin Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) head Ibrahim Ahmad.

Ibrahim said the floods occurred in 11 districts '€” Pamenang, South Pamenang, West Bangko, Lembah Masurai, Muara Siau, West Tabir, Tabir Ulu, Margo Tabir, Tabir Ilir, Pangkalan Jambu and Sungai Manau.

He added that the three power plants, located in Tabir Ilir, Lembah Masurai and Muara Siau, were significantly damaged. The three bridges, two in Muara Siau and another in Lembah Masurai, were also badly affected.

He said the Merangin BPBD had made a report to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) regarding the floods and expected it to disburse emergency funds.

In Central Java, floods triggered by heavy downpours in Pekalongan regency from Sunday evening until Monday morning engulfed hundreds of homes. The floods also swamped a number of schools, such as the Tegaldowo and Kranding elementary schools in Jeruksari.

No casualties or material damage were reported but the flooding affected people'€™s daily activities.

A number of villages were engulfed by the floods, including Bener village in Wiradesa district and Tegaldowo and Jeruksari villages in Tirto district.

Jeruksari villager Muhammad, 30, said residents were not panicked by the flooding because of the recurrent nature of such incidents.

'€œHowever, during floods, we have trouble making a living so people expect the government to help them. We hope for government aid in the form of foodstuffs,'€ he said as quoted by Antara news agency on Monday.

Pekalongan BPBD head Bambang Sujatmiko said rain from Monday morning caused hundreds of homes, especially in the northern part of the regency, to be inundated by 40 centimeters of floodwater.

'€œThe floods on Monday were still within a safe limit, especially at noon when the weather was clear and hot so the water level quickly subsided,'€ he said.

Meanwhile in Aceh, access from Subulussalam to Longkib district, Subulussalam city, was only possible for motorcycles carried on fiberglass rafts after the main bridges in Rantau Panjang and Sikerabang villages were damaged recently.

When reached from Subulussalam on Monday, Longkib district chief Hal Haris said the route to and from Longkib was already passable from Sunday using rafts.

'€œThe most important thing is residents can travel in and out of Longkib to seek various household goods, despite having to use rafts,'€ said Haris.