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Death toll from West Sumatra landslides, floods rises to 30
BNPB chief Suharyanto says landslides and flooding in West Sumatra had claimed a total of 30 lives as of Monday.
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Residents stay in a tent serving as their shelter on March 11, 2024, in Koto Sebelas Tarusan district, Pesisir Selatan regency, West Sumatra. The Pesisir Selatan administration declared a 14-day state of emergency because of heavy flooding in the regency which has caused around Rp 170 billion (US$10.97 million) in property loss. (Antara/Givo Alputra)
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ational Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) chief Lt. Gen. Suharyanto said on Monday that the death toll from flooding and landslides in West Sumatra had risen to a total of 30 people. “This disaster is quite massive and has caused 27 casualties in Pesisir Selatan regency and three in Padang Pariaman regency,” he said in Padang, as reported by CNN.
Suharyanto said the disasters also incurred an estimated loss of over Rp 226 billion (US$14.6 million) to infrastructure in the region.
In total, 12 cities and regencies were affected by the floods, five of which had declared states of emergency, namely Padang city and the regencies of Pesisir Selatan, Mentawai Islands, Padang Pariaman and West Pasaman.
West Sumatra Governor Mahyeldi said that the floods and landslides were caused by several factors, including intense rainfall for more than 12 hours.
The second factor was poorly functioning drainage systems, which were clogged at several points.
Another factor, he added, was the lack of proper spatial planning in the construction of residential areas.
Additionally, according to surveying by the local government, several landslide locations were also vulnerable because of deforestation and damaged riverfront retaining walls.
