Floods in South Sulawesi claim two lives, thousands flee

JAKARTA (JP): Two people have been killed in flooding spanning three days in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi, with thousands forced to flee to safer areas.

Another person is missing after flooding hit three villages in Lasusua district in Kolaka regency, Antara reported on Thursday.

Also destroyed were 18 houses and a dam.

The fatalities were workers of developer PT Pembangunan Perumahan employed in the construction of the trans-Sulawesi highway.

The provincial office of the social services ministry assisted in the evacuation of people and delivery of foodstuffs.

In Samarinda, East Kalimantan, 3,000 residents fled following floods in nine villages which destroyed 119 buildings.

The toll included 108 homes, four village subdistrict offices, a small mosque, rice warehouses and a rice mill.

A week of floods inundated five villages in Bulungan regency and another four villages across Berau regency.

"Heavy rains and the rise in sea level caused the flood," said Hamli Hakim, the head of the social services agency.

Water levels in flooded areas reached 1.5 meters high, he added.

The agency reported floods also destroyed paddy fields covering 1,934 hectares in Bulungan and another 75 hectares in Berau.

Hamli said his office delivered various basic commodities, such as noodles, sugar and secondhand clothes, to the displaced people.

Meanwhile, in Banyuwangi, East Java, rainstorms hit Rogojampi and Kabat districts.

At least 66 bamboo houses in the two districts were leveled.

No casualties have been reported. (01)