Floods could still hit Lampung: meteorologist<\/p>\n
Oyos Saroso HN
\nThe Jakarta Post
\nBandar Lampung<\/p>\n
Further flood resulting from heavy rain could still hit
\nLampung province, and disrupt its Raden Intan airport and the
\ntrans-Sumatra highway as happened on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The deputy chairman of the Lampung Geophysics and Meteorology
\nInformation Team, Bambang N.S. said on Thursday that Lampung
\nresidents had to take the possibility of flooding seriously as
\nconvection clouds were sill present over the province.<\/p>\n
Convection clouds, which usually form around the time of the
\nchangeover from the rainy season to the dry season, have the
\npotential to cause heavy rain.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, torrential rain produced by convection clouds
\ncaused serious flooding that disrupted flights from Radin Intan
\nairport and inundated parts of the trans-Sumatra highway in
\nBranti village, southern Lampung.<\/p>\n
\"The rain only lasted for about three hours but it gave rise
\nto serious flooding. Local people should be on the watch for a
\nrepetition of such conditions,\" he said.<\/p>\n
According to the Meteorology and Geophysics Office, rainfall
\nin Branti village reached 263 millimeters, while in Candimas it
\nreached 160 millimeters.<\/p>\n
The flash floods on Wednesday in Candimas, Brantiraya and Way
\nLunik in Teluk Betung, and Natar in southern Lampung, inundated
\nhundreds of houses and stranded thousands of people in the
\naffected areas.<\/p>\n
It cut the trans-Sumatra highway in Branti village for about
\n13 hours and disrupted flights into and from Raden Intan airport.
\nThe Sumatra bypass is the main highway in Sumatra that links all
\nthe major cities with the ferryport for traffic bound for Java
\nisland, while Raden Intan is the only airport in the province.<\/p>\n
Local residents said that the flooding at the airport was
\nexacerbated by its inadequate drainage system.<\/p>\n
\"The drainage system has been disrupted by the recent
\nextension of the airport, causing the floodwater to reach up to
\ntwo meters,\" said Muji, a resident who lives near to the airport.<\/p>\n
In Branti village, hundreds of travelers in cars had to stop
\ntheir journey due to the flooding and continue again the next
\nmorning after the floodwater had receded.<\/p>\n
\"I waited for the floodwater to recede until 10 a.m. And then
\nwe had to drive slowly because of the traffic jam,\" said Amir,
\n40, a truck driver, who was transporting goods from Bandarjaya to
\nJakarta along the trans-Sumatra highway.<\/p>\n
Lampung Land Transportation Agency chief M. Zein said that his
\npersonnel had to direct traffic with the assistance of the local
\npolice. \"We're still monitoring the highway,\" Zein said on
\nWednesday afternoon.<\/p>\n
Satimin, an official at Raden Intan airport, denied the
\nreports that said the flooding at the airport was due to the
\nextension of the airport's runway. \"It's because of the heavy
\nrain not because of the extension of the runway. Usually,
\nrainfall in the area is only 166 millimeters, but on Tuesday it
\nwas 263 millimeters,\" he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/floods-could-still-hit-lampung-meteorologist-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}