Deli river overflows hundreds of houses submerged

Antara News, Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Medan, North Sumatra (ANTARA News) - Hundreds of houses in the Deli river had been submerged 50 centimeters to one meter deep following the overflow of the river since the small hours of Sunday after constant heavy rains.

Sulaiman (51) of Sei Mati village, Medan Maimun regency said on Sunday it was heavily raining in the area since Saturday night but the water of Deli river rose at 3-4 am.

By 5 am the water level in many locations had risen, and many resident in anticipation of this had early gone to higher grounds.

Ahmad Jurfansyah (40) of the same village also said that the floods were actually not new, and similar conditions happened after constant heavy rain, which caused Deli river to overflow.

He also said that compared to the situation in the past few years, this time the floods were not too big following the construction of a canal connecting Deli and Denai rivers.

"So we have become rather used to it, and we are no longer too worried about such happening. The only thing is that we have to act quickly if it rains, to save our belongings," he said.