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.