Floods return to Palu, destroying homes, crops

Floods return to Palu, destroying homes, crops

PALU, Central Sulawesi: A fresh flash flood hit Morowali
regency in Central Sulawesi on Tuesday, destroying hundreds of
homes and inundating more than 1,000 hectares of paddy fields
about to be harvested.

At least five villages in the Petasia subdistrict, including
Togo Mulya and Bunta, which are inhabited by migrants, were
swamped with two-meter-deep floodwater, forcing residents to flee
their homes.

Yalbert Tulaka, a spokesman for the local administration, said
the flood also inundated the road, cutting off transportation
between Onoputeh and Mondowe.

"This has made it difficult for the local administration to
send food and medicine to the flood victims, but we are trying to
accommodate them at makeshift shelters to speed up channeling the
supplies."

No casualties were reported. A one-and-a-half-year-old child
from Oneputeh village was found alive after he was swept away by
floods two hours earlier.--Antara