Floods kill four in C. Java, halt traffic on north coast line

Floods kill four in C. Java, halt traffic on north coast line

Blontank Poer and Agus Maryono, The Jakarta Post, Semarang/Purwokerto

At least four people were killed and the main Surabaya-Semarang-
Jakarta railroad through Central Java's north coast was cut on
Sunday as more floods triggered by torrential rains devastated
parts of Pekalongan and Batang regencies.

The flooding seriously damaged railroad tracks in at least
three villages, Ponowareng, Kuripan and Roban - all in Tulis
subdistrict -- in Batang, about 70 kilometers west of Semarang,
with the tracks being left hanging about 200 centimeters above
the ground after the topsoil had been washed away, local police
said.

Makbul Sujudi, director of state-owned railroad company PT
Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI)'s operation region IV in Semarang,
said that the tracks in several locations had been damaged as
floodwaters had washed away soil following heavy rains that fell
from Saturday night through Sunday morning.

The two-kilometer section of track was cut at 1:30 a.m. on
Saturday night. As of late last night, all traffic on the line
was still at a completely standstill.

All executive and economy class trains serving the Semarang-
Surabaya route, which runs along the north coast, had to be
rerouted to the south coast line via Tegal, Prupuk, Purwokerto
and Yogyakarta.

But some executive class trains, such as the Argo Muria,
Kamandanu, Senja Utama Semarang and Fajar Utama Bisnis as well as
economy class trains had been canceled, Sujudi said.

In the case of the Fajar Utama business class train from
Surabaya, the rail company put on buses to ferry passengers from
Semarang to Jakarta.

At least 50 trains serve the flood-hit north coast line every
day.

Sukarjo, 45, an official at Pekalongan railway station, said
the damage to the tracks was very worrying as in some cases the
trackbed had been swept away by the floods.

"Actually, the tracks were only briefly inundated by the
floodwaters, but a great deal of damage resulted as the water was
flowing very fast," he told The Jakarta Post.

It was not clear when the line would return to normal. Local
KAI officials said it would take at least two days to repair the
tracks if the weather was good.

"We have temporarily closed the ticket booths and passengers
who have bought tickers will be allowed to get refunds," Sujudi
said.

In Semarang, another senior local KAI official, Imam Santoso,
said that on Sunday night they would still dispatch the
Argomuria, Kamandanu and Senja Utama to Jakarta via the south
coast route through Kedungjati, Solo and Cirebon.

"All the trains that travel via the south coast line will
arrive around five hours late, provided there are no other
unforeseen delays," he said.

The floods that inundated the three subdistricts of Tulis,
Batang and Subah, where the waters rose to between 50 centimeters
and 100 centimeters deep, claimed the lives of at least four
villagers in Batang.

The victims, all residents of Pemalang town in Central Java,
were washed away by the floodwaters, along with their Isuzu
Panther van, at Adinuso village in Subah.

The driver of the van survived.

Only one of the four bodies -- identified as 50-year old Sin
Yot -- has been found. The bodies of the other three -- Lim Eng
Hie, 50, Lin Cou Hua, 53, and Engkong, 80, -- are still missing.

Another van, this time a Kijang, was also swept away about
five kilometers from the scene of the first accident. The
whereabouts of its passengers remained unknown as search and
rescue workers were still looking for them.

Meanwhile, all the seven victims killed in a landslide on
Saturday in Lempongsari village, Gajah Mungkur subdistrict,
Semarang, have been found after another three bodies were
unearthed at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday.

The three were Aisyiyah, 39, and her two daughters Putri, 5,
and Fonny, 13. All seven victims were women.

Police said the landslide had swept seven houses some 30
meters downhill in the hilly residential area of Candi after a
retaining wall broke early on Saturday.

Nationwide floods have killed at least 150 in Jakarta and Java
provinces since late January.

Minister of Resettlement and Regional Infrastructures Sunarno
said the devastating flooding across Indonesia had caused
infrastructural damage worth Rp 1.8 trillion (US$176.5 million).

"According to provisional calculations, the country has
suffered a total loss of Rp 1.8 trillion in damaged or destroyed
roads, school buildings, dikes and drainage channels as a result
of the recent floods," he was quoted by Antara as saying.

He said that in Jakarta alone, the floods since late January
had caused Rp 700 billion worth of damage.

Sunarno added that these estimates were based on the funds
required to repair or rebuild ruined infrastructure and did not
include the value of individual property losses.

"In Jakarta alone, around 100,000 homes have been damaged," he
added.