Floods hit Bandung, one dies and hundreds flee

Floods hit Bandung, one dies and hundreds flee

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

While many people were busy campaigning for their political
parties ahead of next month's legislative election, residents of
the West Java capital of Bandung were fleeing floodwaters on
Tuesday.

At least one person, Gunawan, 28, was killed on Monday evening
after being struck by lightning in Babakan Ciputat, Baleendah, in
southern Bandung.

Floodwaters inundated about 2,000 houses in Babakan Ciputat
when the Citarum River burst its banks following days of rain,
forcing hundreds of residents to flee their homes.

Momom Suherman, head of the disaster control and alertness
section in the Bandung administration, said on Tuesday flooding
initially hit the two subdistricts of Dayeuhkolot and Solokan
Jeruk.

The flooding later spread to 20 villages in the subdistricts
of Baleendah, Rancaekek and Majalaya. The height of the
floodwaters rose and fell, depending on the level of the rain,
Momom said.

"If heavy rains last for one hour, the floodwaters rise up to
one meter in height and later recede, and so forth. But the
height is between 50 and 80 centimeters on average," he said.

He said it was the seventh time flooding had hit the same
residential area in southern Bandung since the end of 2003.

Some affected residents were apparently reluctant to seek
safety on higher ground, although homes, schools, government
offices, mosques and streets were under water.

The Bandung administration has provided rice and instant
noodles to help hundreds of residents sheltering in school
buildings and other buildings.

There have been no reports of political parties taking
advantage of the flooding to campaign among the victims by
sending them aid.

Adang Suheri, a resident of Pasawahan village in Dayeuhkolot
who was forced to flee his house, said he was tired of having to
deal with flooding every rainy season.

"How can we live normally if flooding continues to strike our
area. I lost my junior high school diploma in the floodwaters. We
have to clean up our flooded houses and are forced to take refuge
if the floodwaters get too high," he said.

Adang blamed development projects along the Citarum River that
began in the 1990s for the worsening annual flooding in
Dayeuhkolot.

"In the past (before the projects began), there was only one
flood during the rainy season, but now we have up to 10 floods a
year," he said.

Baleendah subdistrict head Agus Gusmana said a dredging
project began in the upstream area of the Citarum River,
hindering the flow of water in smaller downstream rivers like the
Cipalasari and Citepus.

Bunbun Sabur, head of the irrigation maintenance and
rehabilitation section of the Bandung Public Works Office,
confirmed the Citarum dredging project was still being carried
out on the upstream part of the river.