More than 1,000 families received food rations from the government Tuesday, as some flood victims began to return home to survey the damage.

The government distributed five tons of rice, 1,009 packets of instant noodles, 5,045 canned sardine tins and 2,018 packets of biscuits to 1,009 families displaced by the flood.

Denpasar Mayor Ida Bagus Dharmawijaya Mantra, who joined the effort to distribute the food at a refugee station in Sidakarya, said he had never thought Sidakarya could flood. "The flood in this area was not expected because this is not a flood-prone area, but it happened anyway due to the intense rain and a dysfunctional sewerage system," the governor said.

Mantra said he expected the island's legislative council to soon give him a budget with which to fix the sewerage and expand water absorption areas in the region.

Mantra said Denpasar's water drainage system was inadequate, and also blamed the disaster on littering clogging up the island's water ways and sewerage. a classic public behavioral problem, (flooding) is highly dependent on them," the governor said.

Residents at the post to collect food spoke of being inundated up to their chests in flood water, and their rescue by authorities on rubber boats as a shocking experience.of my possessions at my house are still so dirty. The water just receded this morning," said Emilia Akoit, 31, a resident of Kertha Dalem village in Sidakarya, which is one of the worst hit areas in Denpasar.

"The flood was such a terrifying experience," Emillia said.

Sidakarya village chief I Wayan Sudarma said the flood had inundated seven of the 11 villages in the areas after the nearby Punggawa river broke its banks.

Sudarma said he had established a command post for the first 13 families that evacuated their homes.

"I patrolled the area the previous night and there was no sign that the river would break its banks, so I was surprised that it did," Sudarma said.

The 5-meter-wide Punggawa river, which dissects Sidakarya, had returned to its normal dimensions Tuesday.

The Indonesian Red Cross reported that it had helped eva-cuate 250 people in Kuta and Seminyak.

The organization distributed 160 meals and 13 baby kits to the victims, as well as private donations.

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