Death toll climbs to 14 in Java, Sumatra floods<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Extensive floods, caused by incessant rains in
\nJava and Sumatra, have killed at least 14 people over the past
\nweek.<\/p>\n
Water inundated thousands of houses in Java, southern and
\nwestern Sumatra and destroyed food crops.<\/p>\n
Ten people have been reported dead in West Sumatra where
\nfloods hit four regencies last week.<\/p>\n
The latest fatalities happened in the West Java regency of
\nBandung when four people drowned in the Sindagkerta and Majalaya
\nsubdistricts Saturday.<\/p>\n
Three of the victims, Romlah, 20, Ani, 15 and Eva, 14, were
\nfrom the same family. They drowned when the suspension bridge hey
\nwere crossing collapsed into the swelling Garing river in
\nSindangkerta.<\/p>\n
Heavy rains pounding the Bandung regency from Thursday through
\nSaturday last week and caused the Citarum River to overflow,
\nflooding hundreds of houses. The Bandung-based Mandala daily has
\nfailed to appear since Thursday because its printing press was
\nsoaked, Antara reported.<\/p>\n
In the East Java regency of Bojonegoro, the Bengawan Solo, one
\nof Java's largest rivers, has reportedly flooded more than 2,000
\nhouses in 15 subdistricts.<\/p>\n
Bojonegoro is susceptible to flooding from Bengawan Solo,
\nmajor flooding occurs every rainy season.<\/p>\n
A spokesman for the local government, Sudiro, said yesterday
\nthat the Bengawan Solo was rising. This prompted the
\nadministration to ready relief aid, including medicine, in
\nanticipation of a catastrophe.<\/p>\n
Residents were persuaded to build sandbag dikes and rescue
\nworkers were ready to evacuate residents from flooded areas.<\/p>\n
Kediri was also put on high alert after floods smashed two
\ndikes built to control the flow of cold lava from Mount Kelud,
\none of Java's active volcanoes.<\/p>\n
Mount Kelud project manager Diro Supangat said that the dikes
\ncollapsed on Friday night after the gorge was unable to
\naccommodate the water. Over 50 hectares of paddy fields were
\nburied in sand.<\/p>\n
Over 40 million cubic meters of lava has currently accumulated
\non the slopes of Mount Kelud, which last erupted in 1990,
\naccording to Supangat.<\/p>\n
Equipment<\/p>\n
The project authorities have readied heavy equipment in case
\nmajor lava floods hit the area. \"The equipment can be brought in
\nto a stricken area any time it is needed,\" he told Antara.<\/p>\n
The government has spent Rp 20 billion (US$9 million) on
\nbuilding lava flood control systems on the mountain.<\/p>\n
In Central Java, major floods inundate vast areas in
\nPurbalingga, Pekalongan, Brebes, Tegal and the capital Semarang.<\/p>\n
Thousands of people from 15 villages have been evacuated to
\nPurbalingga, where heavy rains soaked the \"mango town\" for three
\nconsecutive days last weekend.<\/p>\n
The overflow of the Klawing river also hit paddy fields and
\ncaused heavy traffic jams in town.<\/p>\n
Flooding in Pekalongan, Brebes and Tegal started on Thursday
\nand had not subsided by yesterday. The local administrations have
\nprovided aid for the hundreds of evacuees.<\/p>\n
Heavy rains have also triggered widespread flooding in
\nPangkalpinang on Bangka Island in southern Sumatra over the
\nweekend.<\/p>\n
Several thousand people were evacuated in Pangkalpinang to
\nschools in the area.<\/p>\n
\"There have been no fatalities but a car was buried in a cut
\nroad,\" said Sopan Efendi, head of the socio-political affairs
\nsection of the Pangkalpinang administration. (pan\/wah)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/death-toll-climbs-to-14-in-java-sumatra-floods-1447893297",
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