Floods devastate 11 hamlets

Floods devastate 11 hamlets

PADANG SIDEMPUAN, North Sumatra: Last week's floods devastated 11 hamlets and forced the residents of another six hamlets to flee their homes.

A spokesman for the Tapanuli Selatan administration Sarmadan Harahap told Antara that aside from the 11 destroyed hamlets, another 12 hamlets were seriously affected.

The flooding of the Aek Godang river has crippled the areas economically because the residents lost almost all of their belongings, Harahap said.

In the worst hit 11 hamlets, the floods claimed 36 lives. Two people went missing, 133 houses were washed away, 88 hectares of paddy fields were destroyed and 200 hectares of rubber and oil palm plantations were devastated.

Throughout Tapanuli Selatan, the floods killed 41 people, injured 52 and destroyed 237 houses and more than 700 hectares of farms were devastated. (pan)