Antara News, by Andi Abdussalam, Sunday, February 7, 2010 08:38 WIB
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The current rainy season in Indonesia has caused floods in many parts of the country where thousands of houses have been inundated and their tenants forced to evacuate or trapped on the roof tops of their houses.
Until this weekend, the floods have affected residents in Jakarta, Banten, West Java, Central Java, East Java, West Sumatra, Riau, South Sulawesi and other provinces.
In West Java alone, at least 6,000 houses were still flooded on Saturday, in various West Java districts such as Garut, Tasik Malaya, Indramayu, and Bandung.
In the West Java town of Garut, for instance, a 40-to-100-centimeter-deep floods submerged some 350 houses and destroyed shops. Head of Garut Kota suburb Nurdin Yana said the floods submerged Regol, Ciwalen, and Kota Wetan villages.
The floods were caused by the rise of Cigulampeng River`s water level after torrential rain showered Garut for more than an hour. The river overflowed due to garbage that clogged several stream sections.
Thousands of people were evacuated. To help the needy, local government distributed staple food, Head of Garut suburb`s social welfare, workforce and transmigration office, Elka Nurhakimah said meanwhile.
Also worst hit on Saturday was West Java`s Bandung district. At least 6,000 houses in Baleendah, Dayeuhkolot and Bojongsoang subdistricts were flooded Hundreds of Baleendah residents were `trapped` in the lofts and on the roofs of their houses after a flood submerged their region in Bandung District on Saturday.
The flood was worse than those that hit Baleendat before, Hani (40), a resident of Cieunteung village, said.
Local Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) officers and villagers jointly rescued and evacuated people marooned in or atop their houses using rubber boats.
"We need more boats to evacuate them," Gunawan, an Andir resident, who joined the rescue efforts, said.
Floods triggered by incessant heavy rains and the overflowing of the Citarum River, inundated Baleendah and Dayeuhkolot with the flood waters reaching a height of between 50 cm and 2 meters.
The Banjaran - Baleendah - Dayeuhkolot - Bandung road was cut off due to the inundation. Flood waters up to one meter deep had submerged the main road and a gas station.
In Tasikmalaya district, the flood was not as bad as that in Bandung because the number of houses affected only ran into the hundreds. In Tuguraja village for example, only tens of houses were affected.
Empud Saefuddin (55), a resident of Tuguraja, said on Saturday that the flood occurred after incessant rain. Flood water affected residents` houses because the gutter and drainage system did not function well.
He said this weekend`s flood was the second worse after the one that hit the village in 1974.
Last Sunday, heavy rain and strong winds hit Indramayu district and uprooted a banyan tree near an elementary school. Several class rooms were also submerged under the floodwater.
"Floodwater submerged the Singaraja elementary school at a height of up to 70 centimeters. As a consequence, students had to help clean up their class rooms," said Danesih, a Singaraja elementary school teacher. The flood water inundated urban areas of Indramayu for at least three days. Traffic was affected as a number of main roads were under water, he said.
Resdiential areas around Indramayu`s square, in the Margalaksana, Margadadi and Paoman areas were also flooded.
In Central Java, the district of Kudus was also hit by floods this week. A flash flood inundated tens of houses at Sadang village, Jekulo sub district, Kudus District as Logung River dike burst up to tens of meters.
The flood started at around 4.30 local time as the right dike of Logung River burst reaching a length up to 20 meters, Ngasmani, Sadang villager, said. As the consequence, tens of houses at the village were submerged by floodwater mixing with mud and solid waste. The floodwater reached a height of up to 50 cm in Ngasmani`s house.
Last January, flash floods swept through two villages in Banyumas, inundating at least 21 houses. "The 21 flooded houses are located at Besuki village. I don`t know how many houses at Lumbir village were flooded," Lumbir subdistrict head Alex T Manurung said. The flash floods were caused by the overflowing of Lopasir river and Ciaur river, he said.
In the meantime, in East Java`s district of Madiun, tens of houses in Balerejo subdistrict, Madiun district, East Java, were flooded on Friday after the Moneng river overflowed.
The floods inundated 34 houses at Banaran village and seven houses at Pacinan village, Balerejo subdistrict head Edy Riswantoro said.
He said the floods also affected five hectares of rice field at Banaran and seven hectares of rice field at Pacinan. The floods were caused by the overflowing of Moneng river following hours of heavy rains on Thursday night.
"The water level in flood-affected areas is ranging from 40 centimeters to 1 meter. The flood water began inundating the houses at around 04.00 a.m.," Edy said.
By Friday evening, knee-deep water still inundated a number of places at the two villages. "We hope the flood water will recede soon because it disturbs the local people`s daily activities," he said.
In Sumatra, floods also inundated 200 houses in Koto Panjang Minturun areas of Koto Tangah suburb, West Sumatran capital city of Padang on Friday. The one meter-deep floods were triggered by torrential rains showering Koto Tangah suburb for two and half hours, residents said.
According to Coordinator of West Sumatran Province`s Disaster Recovery Division Ade Edwar, the people whose houses were submerged had been evacuated to safer places.
"The floods also submerged tens of hectares of fields," Edwar said.
Some displaced people had returned home after the depth of the flood waters gradually got reduced. Despite this, he asked them not to go out at night for the sake of their safety. "As a result of the September 30, 2009 earthquake, some roads of Padang city are damaged and vulnerable to landslides," he said.
Rain has also continued to fall this month in Dumai city of Riau province in Sumatra. Thus, floods that have affected the city resettlements and residents` oil palm plantations have not yet receded.
"Since in the past several weeks, he have been using boats to harvest and transport our oil palm fruit," Susanto (43), a local oil palm farmer said.
In the meantime, last month, floods claimed two lives in Barru district of South Sulawesi. The two were working on their rice field when flash floods hit the area. While in Kolaka, South East Sulawesi Province, the death toll in a flood that swept through Batu Ganda village in North Kolaka district, reached 10, including a 2-year-old child.
Data from the Kolaka search and rescue (SAR) post show 26 houses were carried away by strong water currents, 45 houses were heavily and seven others lightly damaged.
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