Floods continue to hit provinces<\/p>\n
Antara, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Heavy downpours in a number of parts of the country this week
\nhave caused some rivers in Banten and Riau to overflow and
\ninundate dozens of villages in both provinces.<\/p>\n
Some 2,000 families from seven villages in Panimbang district,
\nPandeglang regency, Banten, have been forced to leave their
\nhouses due to the floods that have prevailed since Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The submerged villages are Gombong, Pangkalan, Panimbang,
\nPanimbang Jaya, Sobang, Bojen and Mekarsari. The flooding was the
\nresult of the heavy rains that caused the Ciliman, Soledengan and
\nCilatah rivers in the province to burst their banks.<\/p>\n
No casualties were reported in the disaster, although the
\nflood waters swept a resident, identified as Nurhasan, 26, some
\nthree kilometers on Thursday. Eventually, he was saved by rescue
\nworkers in cooperation with local people later in the day.<\/p>\n
As of Friday, the flood level had receded to some 35
\ncentimeters from the previous level of more than one meter.<\/p>\n
Dedi Nulyadi, a non-commissioned officer of the Panimbang
\ndistrict police, said on Friday that the flooding had submerged
\nsome 2,000 homes, 565 hectares of paddy fields and 30 hectares of
\nshrimp farms.<\/p>\n
He predicted that up to 10,000 people in the regency were
\nfacing shortages of potable water as their wells had been
\ninundated by the flood waters and contaminated by mud.<\/p>\n
"Almost all wells have been contaminated by mud and it will
\ntake time to clean them out. Therefore, we will need a lot of
\nwater from other regions," he said.<\/p>\n
The Panimbang Jaya village headman Ariman expressed the hope
\nthat the Pandeglang office of the state-run water utility (PDAM)
\ncould provide water for drinking and cooking.<\/p>\n
"I am afraid the people will get stomachaches after consuming
\nmuddy and dirty water," he said.<\/p>\n
Ariman added that people were still worried about further
\nflooding as heavy rain was forecast to continue falling.<\/p>\n
Previously, floods hit Labuan district on Dec. 25 and Cikeusik
\ndistrict on Dec. 27. The floods also cut the road from Panimbang
\nto Sobang on Wednesday, leaving some vehicles submerged in the
\nfloodwaters.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile in Riau province, flooding was still threatening
\nvillagers living near the Kampar river, with the water still
\nreaching up to 2.5 meters high in the Pelalawan area on Friday.<\/p>\n
The flooding has inundated some 700 homes, dozens of kiosks,
\nand hundreds of hectares of plantations in Langgam district, said
\nLanggam district head Zamhur.<\/p>\n
"The floods also damaged six kilometers of road in the
\ndistrict."<\/p>\n
The flooding has also inundated villages in the districts of
\nPasir Penyu and Rengat in Indragiri Hulu regency, while residents
\nof Buluh Cina village in the regency were working hard to clean
\nout their houses after the floodwaters receded on Friday.<\/p>\n
In Makassar, South Sulawesi, the port authorities have erected
\niron screens at the mouth of its eight water channels aimed at
\npreventing the port from being thronged by rubbish.<\/p>\n
However, residents living near the port blamed the screens for
\ncausing flooding in the surrounding areas.<\/p>\n
The director of the local port authority, PT Pelindo IV, Wasis
\nSubiakto, said on Friday that the company had always removed the
\nrubbish trapped by the iron screens so that it would not impede
\nthe water flow from the residents' houses.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/floods-continue-to-hit-provinces-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}