Floods could still hit Lampung: meteorologist

Floods could still hit Lampung: meteorologist

Oyos Saroso HN
The Jakarta Post
Bandar Lampung

Further flood resulting from heavy rain could still hit
Lampung province, and disrupt its Raden Intan airport and the
trans-Sumatra highway as happened on Wednesday.

The deputy chairman of the Lampung Geophysics and Meteorology
Information Team, Bambang N.S. said on Thursday that Lampung
residents had to take the possibility of flooding seriously as
convection clouds were sill present over the province.

Convection clouds, which usually form around the time of the
changeover from the rainy season to the dry season, have the
potential to cause heavy rain.

On Wednesday, torrential rain produced by convection clouds
caused serious flooding that disrupted flights from Radin Intan
airport and inundated parts of the trans-Sumatra highway in
Branti village, southern Lampung.

"The rain only lasted for about three hours but it gave rise
to serious flooding. Local people should be on the watch for a
repetition of such conditions," he said.

According to the Meteorology and Geophysics Office, rainfall
in Branti village reached 263 millimeters, while in Candimas it
reached 160 millimeters.

The flash floods on Wednesday in Candimas, Brantiraya and Way
Lunik in Teluk Betung, and Natar in southern Lampung, inundated
hundreds of houses and stranded thousands of people in the
affected areas.

It cut the trans-Sumatra highway in Branti village for about
13 hours and disrupted flights into and from Raden Intan airport.
The Sumatra bypass is the main highway in Sumatra that links all
the major cities with the ferryport for traffic bound for Java
island, while Raden Intan is the only airport in the province.

Local residents said that the flooding at the airport was
exacerbated by its inadequate drainage system.

"The drainage system has been disrupted by the recent
extension of the airport, causing the floodwater to reach up to
two meters," said Muji, a resident who lives near to the airport.

In Branti village, hundreds of travelers in cars had to stop
their journey due to the flooding and continue again the next
morning after the floodwater had receded.

"I waited for the floodwater to recede until 10 a.m. And then
we had to drive slowly because of the traffic jam," said Amir,
40, a truck driver, who was transporting goods from Bandarjaya to
Jakarta along the trans-Sumatra highway.

Lampung Land Transportation Agency chief M. Zein said that his
personnel had to direct traffic with the assistance of the local
police. "We're still monitoring the highway," Zein said on
Wednesday afternoon.

Satimin, an official at Raden Intan airport, denied the
reports that said the flooding at the airport was due to the
extension of the airport's runway. "It's because of the heavy
rain not because of the extension of the runway. Usually,
rainfall in the area is only 166 millimeters, but on Tuesday it
was 263 millimeters," he said.