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Flood kills one, washes out bridge
One person was declared dead and another missing after a powerful flood swept Titab village in Buleleng regency on Friday night, destroying a bridge connecting the village with neighboring areas
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ne person was declared dead and another missing after a powerful flood swept Titab village in Buleleng regency on Friday night, destroying a bridge connecting the village with neighboring areas.
Torrential rain in Buleleng since Friday morning caused the Tukad Sabe River to overflow and flood its banks at around 8:30 p.m.
The river carried mud, toppled trees and destroyed the 30-meter-long Titab bridge connecting the village with Busungbiu in Pupuan district.
Kadek Udi and his father-in-law Ketut Sepiran from Bale Dane were swept away by floodwaters as they rode their motorcycle across the broken bridge.
Villagers only began a search for the two at 5 a.m. the next day, finding the motorcycle around one kilometer from the bridge.
Three and a half hours later, they found the body of Kadek Udi in some bushes four kilometers from the village, but failed to find Ketut Sepiran.
Villagers began to flee 30 minutes after the flood hit their homes.
“We took another route to safety because the bridge was washed out,” said Luh Sulasmini, who fled with other 80 villagers.
Villagers abandoned all New Year’s Eve preparations as they made their way to a community center two kilometers away.
“Some arrived with nothing but the clothes they were wearing, other managed to bring spare clothes and food. This flood really ruined our New Year celebrations,” village head I Gusti Nyoman Adnyana told The Jakarta Post.
He said Udi and Sepiran had gone out that night to buy fish and meat for a New Year party.
By Sunday afternoon, villagers, search and rescue officials and police officers continued to look for Sepiran.
“We’ve searched as far as Seririt but there are no signs of Sepiran,” Adnyana said, adding that other villages along the river were now on alert for possible floods.
The flood destroyed dozens of houses and a temple, swept away livestock and submerged at least 15 hectares of land.
Adnyana said that following the destruction of the bridge, residents would have to take a longer road to reach neighboring villages.
“The only available access road is the one connecting Seririt with Lokapaksa. But it’s too narrow for four-wheeled vehicles and the ground is unstable with ravines on both sides,” he said.
Residents said the bridge was previously damaged in floods in 1982.
Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika, who briefly visited the area Saturday, called on villagers to remain alert about possible natural disasters in the future, saying that Buleleng was a vulnerable area.
“The emergency response is the most important thing. We need to ensure evacuees get all the help they need,” he said.
New Year’s Eve was also marred by landslides in three different hamlets in Batiran village in Pupuan, Tabanan regency. The landslide destroyed three houses and one family temple, but no casualties were reported. On Sunday, residents participated in a communal cleanup of the area.
