Bahorok refugees flee camps amid heavy rains

Bahorok refugees flee camps amid heavy rains

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Bahorok, North Sumatra

Hundreds of families left homeless after the recent devastating
flood in North Sumatra fled their refugee camps on Sunday due to
fears of a further disaster following two days of heavy rains.

However, others stayed at their camps in Bahorok subdistrict,
Langkat regency, near where the flash flood killed at least 151
people on Nov. 2.

Alamsyah, a Bahorok resident, said the rain had caused the
Bahorok river to rise one meter, which had scared the refugees.

"In the last two nights we have been facing a terrible
situation. Many people cry hysterically and begin running as if
the river has overflowed again," he told The Jakarta Post.

Speaking at the disaster relief post in Bukit Lawang, Bahorok,
Alamsyah said the victims believed further floods could hit their
villages again.

They had heard reports that two upstream dams could burst at
anytime due to the heavy rain, he said.

Rescuers said on Sunday that the death toll in Bukit Lawang
had reached 151.

Another 97 people are still missing, they added.

There was some confusion as to whether the official search
would be halted.

Langkat administration secretary Masri Zein said the search
was stopped on Sunday.

But he said efforts to clean up the disaster zone would
continue to involve military and police officers, as well as
local people.

However, Bahorok subdistrict head Jaya Sitepu said the search
for more bodies would continue.

Last week, Langkat Regent Syamsul Arifin said local
authorities had agreed to continue search efforts until all the
missing were found.

Jaya said several private groups, including rescue teams from
universities in North Sumatra, had offered assistance.

He said locals had also set up a team called United Friends,
whose members included families of the victims, to help find the
cause of the flood, widely blamed on rampant illegal logging.

He said the government's preliminary conclusion that the flood
was a genuine natural disaster instead of a man-made disaster
should be verified by local people.

"We want to find out ourselves what exactly caused the flood.
It will satisfy us."

An investigation by the Leuser Management Unit (UML) concluded
the flood was the indirect result of deforestation in Gunung
Leuser National Park.

The UML is a European Union-funded organization comprising
environmentalists and government institutions for the
preservation of the Leuser ecosystem.

The conclusion was based on an analysis of video footage taken
in Bukit Lawang several days after the disaster and a
topographical map of Langkat covering 250,000 hectares of forest.

The footage revealed dozens of landslides in the upper reaches
of the Bahorok river, which flows through Bahorok on the slopes
of the Leuser park.

The mud from the landslides had flowed across several hills,
located between 1,200 to 2,000 meters above sea level. Thousands
of logs and trees had toppled along the riverbank and into the
river.

The mud and trees created dozens of small dams and several
large dams.

UML advisor Mike Griffiths said the dams had blocked the river
and it was likely that they could no longer hold back the water
during heavy rains a day before the flood.