Floodwaters subside in Aceh

Floodwaters subside in Aceh

Antara, Banda Aceh

Floodwaters began to subside in South Aceh and Southwest Aceh regencies on Saturday after heavy rains and overflowing rivers, beginning on Wednesday, inundated the two regencies.

The water, which reached 1.5 meters in some areas in the two regencies began dropping late on Friday, allowing some residents to return to their houses, while key transportation routes to Medan were largely back to normal.

The flood, which affected thousands of houses, took place after heavy rains began on Wednesday causing rivers to overflow.

Serambi Indonesia newspaper journalist Sufrizal Yusuf said South Aceh Regent Muchsalmina and several officials had visited Kota Fajar while deputy regent Harfana Hasan went to Meukek district, which was affected the most.

The overflowing of the Meukek river also damaged a concrete dam in Kuta Buluh II village, allowing floodwaters to rise into many houses in Blang Kuala and Arun Tunggai villages. The flooding also damaged three bridges in nearby villages, cutting transportation from the district capital to several villages and forcing residents to use rafts to get through.

Flooding was also reported in six other districts of Southwest Aceh regency, with thousands of houses inundated by muddy water.

Hundreds of tsunami survivors, who live in Susoh district and in Keude Manggeng village in the regency, were also affected by the flood as the water had inundated their makeshift tents, forcing most to seek higher ground.

Sufrizal said that the floodwater had started to subside, although several areas, like Pulau Kayu village, Blangpidie regency, were still under about 30 centimeters of water.

The flood was the latest in a series of natural disasters over the past year in Aceh province. Another recent flood, in Southeast Aceh regency, killed 28 people and destroyed some 900 houses last month.