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Hundreds of Medan homes inundated after heavy rain
Hundreds of homes in six districts of the North Sumatra capital of Medan were inundated with waters up to 1 meter deep following heavy rains early on Thursday.
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Residents push a motorcycle on a flooded street in Medan, North Sumatra on Aug. 18. JP/Apriadi Gunawan (JP/Apriadi Gunawan)
Apriadi Gunawan
The Jakarta Post/Medan
Hundreds of homes in six districts of the North Sumatra capital of Medan were inundated with waters up to 1 meter deep following heavy rains early on Thursday.
Dozens of residents were forced to evacuate; several streets were also inundated causing traffic jams.
Medan city Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) chief, M. Husni said that a total of 696 houses were inundated in Medan Selayang, Medan Johor, Medan Sunggal, Medan Maimun and Medan Polonia district.
Husni said that heavy rains had caused the Deli and Babura rivers in the city to overflow. The agency reported that a total of 2,247 people were affected by the flooding.
“Dozens of people have to evacuate. We have assisted them,” Husni told The Jakarta Post.
Herman, a Medan Selayang resident, said that floodwaters started encroaching on his house at around 1.30 a.m. The woodcraftsman said his family did not get any sleep.
“We spent the night draining the water out until 4.30 a.m.,” he told the Post.
Medan traffic police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Sonny W Siregar said the police had rerouted traffic because of the flooding.
“Tens of motorcycles were trapped by the water on Jl. Ngumban Surbakti as riders tried to pass through,” Sonny said.
The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) chief Darmawan has warned that medium to heavy rains will continue to hit the North Sumatra region in the next three days. (dre)
