Floods swamp 200 houses

MANADO: Heavy rains and flooding over the last two weeks has affected approximately 200 houses in Manado, but no casualties were reported, according to the police on Saturday.

First Insp. Korompis explained that the water began rising to dangerous levels on Thursday, and more rain increased the water level to over 1.5 meters in some neighborhoods as of Saturday.

Head of the Manado climatology station Ahmad Subekti asked North Sulawesi residents to be on alert for more flooding, which has been predicted for February. "The rainy season is predicted to last until June," he claimed.

The worst hit areas are Ternate Tanjung Lingkungan I subdistrict and Singkil Lingkungan II subdistrict in the Singkil district of Manado. -- JP