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flood that hit several areas in North Sumatra a few days ago has forced thousands of residents to leave their homes for temporary shelters.

In the provincial capital of Medan, hundreds of homes were evacuated in Aur subdistrict, Medan Maimon district, early morning on Tuesday. Floodwater one meter in depth inundated the houses.

A subdistrict official, Yahdi Sabil, said the flooding was caused by an overflow of the Deli River, following heavy downpour in the past few days. He said that some residents living in multi-story houses chose to stay behind.

According to the Medan Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), Medan Maimun and Medan Johor were the districts most affected by the flood. The operation and control manager at BPBD Medan, M. Yunus, said the agency had set up public kitchens in the temporary shelters.

Outside Medan, flooding was also reported in Langkat regency where the overflowing Batang Serangan River resulted in the inundation of thousands of houses in six districts.

Iwan Syahri of BPBD Langkat said the hardest hit district was Tanjung Pura, where floodwater one meter in depth forced 699 families to leave their homes. Other affected districts in the regency include Padang Tualang, Babalan, Sei Lepan, and Sawit Seberang.