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More flooding possible as widespread deluges kill 8

Recent heavy rains in the west of the country have caused floods and landslides in several provinces, including West Java, North Sumatra and Riau, claiming the lives of a number of people

Rizal Harahap, Apriadi Gunawan, Gemma Holliani Cahya and Ivany Atina Arbi (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta/Pekanbaru/Medan
Sat, November 10, 2018

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More flooding possible as widespread deluges kill 8

R

ecent heavy rains in the west of the country have caused floods and landslides in several provinces, including West Java, North Sumatra and Riau, claiming the lives of a number of people.

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) warned on Thursday about the potential for landslides and floods as Java and Sumatra enter the rainy season.

“During the rainy season, there will be more potential for hydro-meteorology disasters such as floods and landslides,” BNPB spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said recently.

The floods and landslides that had hit Tasikmalaya and Pangandaran regencies in West Java in the past few days had claimed the lives of at least seven people, the BNPB said.

A 10-year old boy from Sindangreja village in Tasikmalaya’s Cikalong district went missing after being swept away by a strong current while swimming in an overflowing river on Tuesday morning and was found dead two days later on Thursday afternoon.

“Based on his friends’ testimonies, the boy was swept away right after he dove into the river,” Sutopo said.

Floodwaters have also inundated six villages in three other districts in Tasikmalaya — Cipatujah, Karang Nunggal and Culamega — since Tuesday morning. Five people died when floods and landslides struck.

The overflowing Ciandum River swept away a bridge connecting Tasikmalaya with neighboring Garut regency via the Cipatujah route.

In Pangandaran, a person was killed when floodwaters inundated nine villages in six districts in the regency on Tuesday morning.

At least 1,681 families living in the two regencies were affected by the floods and landslides.

In Riau, the body of Ulin Muslikin, a resident of Kebun Lado village in Singingi district, was found on Thursday morning after a three-day search. The 25-year-old gold miner had reportedly attempted to cross the overflowing Singingi River on Tuesday.

“The incident happened on Tuesday at about 9 a.m. [after heavy rain],” Singingi district head Irfansyah said Thursday. “Soon after receiving a report on the incident, search and rescue teams sent out on two speedboats and four canoes to look for the victim. The teams found the body this morning.”

In Mandailing Natal, North Sumatra, flooding displaced thousands on Wednesday night, while the overflowing Batang Gadis River in the regency swept through residential areas and damaged roads.

“Many houses have been swept away. We are recording the number,” Mandailing Natal Disaster Mitigation Agency (Mandailing BPBD) head Sulpardi said.

At least nine districts have been inundated and displaced persons are being housed in a multipurpose building on Jl. Mandailing.

Sulpardi said some schools had been closed because of flooding.

Flash floods occurred in the same regency last month, claiming 17 lives. Twelve of the victims were students of a local elementary school who had been studying in their classroom.

In 2017, the country recorded a total of 2,341 disasters, 99 percent of which were floods, landslides and tornados, also known as angin puting beliung.

Floods and landslides throughout last year caused 291 deaths, destroyed thousands of houses and saw more than 2.3 million people displaced, according to BNPB.

BNPB data shows that around 17 percent of the country’s total population, or around 40.9 million people, live in landslide-prone regions, however only 200 early warning system units are installed across Indonesia.

“January will be the peak of the rainy season. And usually we experience the worst hydro-meteorology disasters around January. But, please be prepared [now] as the intensity of rainfall will increase until the peak season,” Sutopo said.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) is warning people about the possibility of intense rainfall over the next week in, among other places, most parts of Sumatra, West Java and Central Java and some areas of Kalimantan.

“Please be cautious as it [heavy rainfall] can cause, among other things, floods, landslides, flash floods and tornados,” meteorology division head Mulyono Prabowo said on Friday.

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