Flooding closes Medan's airport

Flooding in the North Sumatra capital of Medan forced thousands of residents to flee their homes on Saturday and temporarily shut down the city's Polonia International Airport.

Incoming and departing flights were delayed and around 500 passengers were stranded at the airport, officials said.

Head of Polonia airport Risman Nuryadin announced the closure after floodwaters spilled onto one of the runways, reaching up to 10 centimeters high.

Risman could not say when the airport would be reopened.

In the city's other locations, floodwaters were between half a meter and two meters high.

A spokesman for the Medan administration, Rusdi Siregar, said preliminary data showed at least 1,500 houses in several villages were inundated, the biggest flood in the last three months.

"Throughout this year, we recorded floods have struck Medan at least four times. This time was the worst," he told The Jakarta Post.

The flooding, which followed a daylong downpour, started after several rivers overflowed.

There were no reports of injuries. Marines and other rescue workers sailed aboard rubber canoes to rescue people. (Apriadi Gunawan)