Central Java refugees brace for more floods<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Cilacap, Central Java<\/p>\n
Tens of thousands of Central Java flood victims are living in
\nmisery either in temporary shelters or inundated homes amid fears
\nof prolonged floods due to continuing heavy rains.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile the death toll rose to three on Wednesday with the
\ndiscovery of the body of 23-year-old Salim in Jitung village,
\nKebumen Regency. The other two victims, Wartiyen, a woman from a
\nBanyumas village, and Matbera from a Cilacap village, drowned on
\nTuesday when they braved the flashfloods to save their
\nbelongings.<\/p>\n
Floods are expected to worsen and spread to other areas due to
\ncontinuing downpours, the overflowing of the Serayu, Bodo,
\nCibereum, Cimeneng and Citanduy rivers and the continued burst of
\nsome riverbanks.<\/p>\n
Residents in Cilacap's Sidareja and Kawunganten districts are
\nsaid to be the hardest hit by the floods. They have received
\ndonations from the authorities. Meanwhile, thousands of others
\nare relying on what they could salvage from the disaster and on
\nfood donated by local philanthropists.<\/p>\n
Cilacap Regent Herry Tabri donated on Wednesday 700 kilograms
\nof rice, 135 boxes of instant noodles, 60 kg of salted fish and
\n70 kg of cooking oil when he and his staff members visited
\nthousands of victims who were crowded into makeshift shelters in
\nthe Sidareja and Kawunganten districts.<\/p>\n
Various institutions in Cilacap Regency have set up communal
\nkitchens and health posts in a number of temporary shelters.<\/p>\n
\"This has been the third and largest flood to hit our village
\nthis month,\" said 40-year-old Saliman from Sikampuh village in
\nCilacap.<\/p>\n
He said 250 families had fled their homes and were staying at
\na temporary shelter at the village office. \"We haven't received
\nany food yet from the local administration,\" he added.<\/p>\n
His neighbor Darisem, 38, agreed, saying \"we are now living in
\na nightmare. Our only five sacks of paddy were washed away in the
\nflood and many of our chickens drowned.\"<\/p>\n
Darisem said that she could not save most of her belongings,
\n\"because the current was so strong and the flood struck so
\nquickly\".<\/p>\n
A regency official said that at least 100 families living in a
\nremote part of the village were trapped because their hamlet was
\nfar from the road. The only path linking their hamlet to the road
\nwas inundated with more than one meter of water.<\/p>\n
The authorities need life rafts to evacuate the villagers,
\nwhile 20 lifeboats owned by the regency administration were being
\nused to evacuate victims in the worst hit districts of
\nKawunganten and Sidareja.<\/p>\n
Cilacap Regency spokesman Gatot Arif said that floods had
\nspread from five districts the previous day to 11. There are 23
\ndistricts in the regency.<\/p>\n
The local administration is calculating the total loss caused
\nby the disaster, but a temporary evaluation in some districts has
\nestimated losses at some Rp 450 million (US$45,000).<\/p>\n
Besides a buildup of silt in the rivers, the local
\nadministration has also blamed illegal logging and the
\ndestruction of forests as causes for the flooding, which was said
\nto be the worst in the past several years.<\/p>\n
Data from state forestry company Perhutani revealed that some
\n200 hectares of forest had been destroyed.<\/p>\n
In Kebumen, 17,000 people fled their flooded homes. Some 9,000
\nof them are sheltering in local administration offices while
\n8,000 are living in makeshift tents along nearby riverbanks.<\/p>\n
Minister of Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure Soenarno,
\naccompanied by Kebumen Regent Rustriningsih, paid a visit to
\nPuring district and donated Rp 300 million in cash and 30 tons of
\nrice to the victims.<\/p>\n
Soenarno told the media during the visit that the ministry had
\nallocated Rp 70 billion from foreign aid for a project to dredge
\nthe Serayu, Bogowonto and other rivers in Central Java.<\/p>\n
However, the project, which will take between three and four
\nyears, will start early next year.<\/p>\n
Incessant rains have also forced 170 people to leave their
\nhomes in two villages in the Purworejo regency over fears of
\nlandslides. They fled their villages after noticing cracks in the
\nground in some areas which are vulnerable to landslides.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/central-java-refugees-brace-for-more-floods-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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