Flood hits Tebing Tinggi area
Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan, North Sumatra
Flooding hit three districts on Saturday and Sunday in the North Sumatra municipality of Tebing Tinggi -- some 120 kilometers South of Medan -- and inundated thousands of residential houses, killing at least one person.
The victim was identified as Wak Peak, a 66-year-old woman from Mandailing subdistrict, Padang Hulu district.
The disaster has forced thousands of local residents to take refuge in safer places, but as of Sunday, the flood subsided, allowing most residents to return to their homes.
Hasan Sazili, village head of Padang Hulu, said that very heavy rainfall over the past week increased the level of the Bahilang river that flows through Padang Hulu, Padang Hilir and Rambutan districts.
As a result, the river overflowed and the water inundated most parts of the districts, he said. In some areas, the flood level reached a meter high, including in Mandailing and Pasar Baru subdistricts, he added.
Local residents in Mandailing subdistrict recounted that water suddenly inundated their houses at around 11 p.m on Saturday as most residents were slept. Surprised by water rushing into their homes, the residents swiftly moved to save other family members and other valuables.
"There was no sign in the afternoon that there would be a flood," said Munah, a resident of Mandailing subdistrict.
Due to the flood, most of shops and food stalls in downtown Tebing Tinggi were closed on Sunday.
Bakri, another resident of Tebing Tinggi, said that the flood had prevented them from doing their daily activities.
He said that he could not open his food stall on Jl. Thamrin, because water covered the street on Sunday.
Other streets that were still inundated by floodwaters on Sunday were, among others, Jl. Iskandar Muda and Jl. Suprapto.
The Tebing Tinggi municipal administration has established a command post, in order to help the residents overcome problems caused by the flood. Staff at the command post found that 2,240 families from 13 subdistricts in the three districts had taken refuge to safer places due to the flood.
The government has established a public kitchen in each of the 13 subdistricts affected by the flood.
Bambang Irianto, the head of general affairs division at Tebing Tinggi administration, said that the government had distributed food to the public kitchens, including instant noodles, rice and dried fish.
The heavy rainfall last week also caused flooding in neighboring Mandailing Natal regency.
The floodwaters damaged a bridge in Siabu district in the regency, which connects North and West Sumatra provinces.
As a result, dozens of public transportation vehicles and private cars had to take other routes to reach their respective destinations.