Flood hits Atambua

ATAMBUA, East Nusa Tenggara: A flash food hit Atambua last Friday, leaving hundreds of local people homeless and dozens of hectares of rice fields damaged.

The flood was triggered by incessant rain from Wednesday until Friday, causing the Benenai river that passes through the regency to overflow.

"Sixty houses were damaged and hundreds of cattle were killed in the flood. Hundreds of flood victims have been evacuated to safer areas in the regency," Belu Deputy Regent Bria Yohannes said here on Saturday.

He said the local administration has dispatched food and medical aid to the flood victims.

He said the southern part of Belu regency was quite prone to flooding because it was located near the Benenai river.

Yoseph Parera, chief of the Malaka Barat subdistrict, said the flood damaged 60 houses in seven villages and flooded ten others, the water reaching 80 centimeters in the villages. --Antara