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Thousands of Bima flood victims still in shelters with many falling ill
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Several residents stand on a collapsed bridge as others look on in Kodo subdistrict of East Rasana'e Timur district, Bima city, West Nusa Tenggara, on Dec. 21. Flash floods struck the city on Wednesday and displaced thousands of residents following heavy downpours in the area. (Antara/Humas Pemprov NTB)
M
ore than 6,000 residents of Bima municipality in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) remain in shelters with close to 1,000 having started to contract flood-related diseases following major flash floods that struck the city.
"[Currently,] there are 6,030 people staying in 19 emergency shelters," NTB Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) chief Muhammad Rum said on Sunday.
The 19 shelters have been set up in eight subdistricts: Jatiwangi, Lewirato, Monggonao, Paruga, Penaraga, Penatoi, Sadia and Tanjung.
Residents were using mosques, school buildings and shops as shelters as they could not yet return to their respective homes damaged by the flash floods, Rum said. While others had returned home to clean their houses from debris carried by the floods.
(Read also: Flash floods displace 100,000 people in Bima)
The floods took place in 33 subdistricts of five districts in Bima municipality where at least 105,000 families were affected.
Furthermore, Rum said 929 Bima residents were suffering from respiratory illnesses, skin rashes and diarrhea. Local administrations had set up, jointly with the local military command, several medical posts and a field hospital to help the affected residents.
"We have also distributed logistics aid to the shelters. There are currently seven public kitchens, which can serve up to 5,000 people per kitchen," he said, adding that aid from other regions had also arrived in Bima such as food supplies, clothes, medicine and assistance funds.
The NTB BPBD and local administrations had begun collecting data on the houses and public facilities damaged by the floods on Wednesday.
