Flood hits Tebing Tinggi area
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.