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Thousands flee homes as massive flooding grips Central Java
Authorities in Demak and Kudus are rerouting traffic and assisting thousands of residents who have been affected by massive flooding over the weekend, while the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) has reported that the disaster has affected more than a quarter of a million people in at least 10 regencies in the province.
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People wade through a flooded street on March 16, 2024 in Demak, Central Java. (AFP/DEVI RAHMAN)
T
housands of people have fled their homes in Demak and Kudus as floods devastated the two regencies in Central Java over the weekend, killing at least five.
The Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) reported that flooding in the province had affected more than 250,000 people in at least 10 regencies, and more than 2,300 people were being accommodated in temporary shelters as of Friday.
The Kudus Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD Kudus) said on Sunday that more than 2.1 million hectares of rice fields were still submerged and five people had been killed since flooding struck the regency on Thursday.
Among those killed was a 15-year-old resident of Temulus village, who reportedly drowned on Friday while trying to cross a flooded rice field.
Flooding worsened in the regency when a dam on the Wulan River collapsed and cut off a section of the Northern Coastal (Pantura) Highway connecting Kudus and Demak.
BPBD Kudus head Mundir said while rainfall had returned to normal levels, local transportation was still disrupted, as some roads were still submerged and impassable.
“Jl. Tanjungkarang in Jetis Kapuan [village] is damaged and inundated. The level of water in the Wulan River has fallen by 40 centimeters,” Mundir said on Sunday, as quoted by Kompas.com.
