Floods kill one in C. Java, pose further threats in Riau

Floods kill one in C. Java, pose further threats in Riau

Haidir Anwar Tanjung and Agus Maryono, The Jakarta Post,
Pekanbaru/Banyumas

Flash floods killed one person and displaced thousands of others
and inundated at least 3,000 houses in 20 villages in Cilacap
regency, Central Java, following heavy downpour on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Riau administration officials warned local people
in the province of more floods to come.

The local flood and refugee control team said in Cilacap on
Thursday seven districts in the regencies were inundated to
depths ranging from 0.5 meter to two meters, with 1,189 houses
being totally engulfed in the two districts alone.

In Wanareja, one of the two hardest hit districts, 953 homes
were inundated and a villager, Agus Triono from Bantar, died
after being swept away by flood water.

The seven districts are Wanareja with four villages flooded,
Cipari (with four villages), Majenang, Kesugihan and Maos (each
with three villages), Kroya (two villages) and Cimanggu (one
village).

Six major rivers in three districts, namely Cikawung and
Cileumeuh in Cimanggu district, Cilopadang, Cijalu and Cilanggir
in Majenang district, and Citanduy in Wanareja and Cipari
districts, burst their banks after the heavy rains in the wee
hours of Wednesday.

Hundreds of villagers are still trapped in their flooded homes
and are taking refuge in river dikes owing to the limited number
of rubber dinghies to take them out of the disaster stricken
districts.

Local village chiefs say the stranded flood victims are
temporarily sheltering in emergency tents. "Some 355 families
have been evacuated up until this afternoon. They need food,
clean water and medicine," said Mulyasari village head Agus Bari.

Cilacap deputy regent Thohirin Bahri in his inspection of
Wanareja district on Thursday provided aid for the flood hit
areas and witnessed the evacuation of flood victims.

Riau Deputy Governor R.A. Aziz said the flood would likely
continue and even extend to other regencies in the province.

"The floods have a lot to do with the release of water from
the Kotopanjang giant reservoir because of the continued rain in
the province over the last two weeks. The reservoir must be
prevented from overflowing," he said when visiting Indragiri Hulu
and Pelalawan, two regencies which were inundated, on Thursday.

The chief of the local office of the Meteorology and
Geophysics Agency (BMG), Y. Drajat Bintoro, told The Jakarta Post
that the soil condition and the over-exploitation of forests had
worsened the floods.

"So far, the rainfall is still normal at between 150 mm and
250 mm. Yet, the rainfall, together with the absence of catchment
areas because of the swamps and the rampant plundering of the
forests in the province have worsened the flood which was mainly
caused by the overflowing of Kotopanjang reservoir in Kampar
regency," he said.

The floods that have inundated Indragiri Hulu and Pelalawan
have displaced more than 20,000 locals and paralyzed a section of
the East Trans-Sumatra Highway.

Husni Thahir, head of the local non-governmental organization
Indragiri Hulu Community Protection Agency said that the floods
had affected more than 72 villages in five regencies, including
Indragiri Hulu, Pelalawan and Rengat.

"I'm afraid the situation will worsen because it is not only
about the rain, but also the rising water level of the Indragiri
River," Husni told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.