Flood victims in Lampung starting to fall sick

Oyos Saroso H.N., The Jakarta Post/Bandarlampung

Five days after floods inundated many parts of Lampung, the number of people affected by the disaster is on the rise, while some of them have started to fall ill.

The flood has affected five regencies -- Tulangbawang, Lampung Utara, Lampung Timur, Lampung Tengah and Way Kanan as of Thursday.

The number of people seeking medical treatment has reached over 5,000, with common complaints being skin irritation, respiratory infection, diarrhea and fever.

According to Lampung's provincial secretary, Rachmat Abdullah, the number of people who had flood-related illnesses were 941 in Lampung Utara regency, 910 in Lampung Tengah, 450 in Waykanan, 405 in Lampung Timur, and 3,000 in Tulangbawang.

"Some of them have already received medical treatment at nearby community health centers," Abdullah said.

The flood has claimed five lives to date. The last victim was 17-year-old Ricky, a resident of Gayabaru 1 village in Seputih Surabaya district in Lampung Tengah regency, who drowned when he was fleeing floodwaters on Thursday.

The flood also ruined 17,000 hectares of paddy and corn that was due to be harvested in the five regencies.

Abdullah said that out of the 17,000 hectares, 14,000 were paddy and the remaining were corn.

He said the provincial and regental administrations would provide free medical treatment as well as seeds to allow farmers to start planting again.

Head of Kotabumi community health center in North Lampung, Dr. Maya, said that all patients in the area had been treated in health centers.

However, she said that the number of people may not be accurate as not all of subdistricts has submitted the exact number of patients being treated.

Flooding in the five regencies not only disrupted traffic but also school activities.

Head of the education office in Waykanan, Herwan Syahri, said that seven elementary schools were inundated by two meters of floodwater.

In Tulangbawang, five elementary schools had to close as the schools were damaged by floodwater.

In Palembang, head of the province's geophysics and meteorology office, Suyatim, said that the Musi River and several other rivers had overflowed and inundated at least four regencies. The flood, he said, occurred because of heavier than usual rain.

He was reported by Antara as saying that flooding would still pose a threat for South Sumatra residents until March, cautioning people not only to watch out for floods but also for possible landslides.