Gale kills one, damages hundreds of houses

Apriadi Gunawan The Jakarta Post/Medan

A gale that swept through several parts of Indonesia has claimed at least one life and destroyed hundreds of houses in North Sumatra, officials said on Wednesday.

A woman died after being hit by a falling tree, while at least 278 houses in a number of areas across the province were damaged amid two days of strong wind and rain.

The woman was identified as Kusmini, 45, a housewife and mother from Kuto Mulyo village in Biru-Biru, Deli Serdang.

Biru-Biru district head Binsar TH Sitanggang said Kusmini was returning from her farm in the neighboring village of Tanjung Sena when the accident occurred

Villagers who observed the accident rushed to assist Kusmini, but she was already dead, he added.

Along with the neighboring town of Binjai, Biru-Biru is among six districts in Deli Serdang that suffered the worst of the gale. The five other districts are Lubuk Pakam, Pagar Merbau, Beringin, Pantai Labu and Tanjung Morawa.

A total of 278 houses were destroyed in Deli Serdang and Binjai alone.

The head of Polonia's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency in Medan, Firman, said the strong winds, locally known as angin puting beliung (cyclonic winds), were due to extreme changes of temperature in the province that resulted in strong convection currents.

"This condition will continue until October. It means there will more cyclonic winds -- a threat that should be anticipated, particularly in mountainous areas," Firman said.

Strong winds also destroyed about 1,100 houses in two days in seven villages across South Sulawesi, but no deaths were reported.

However, many villagers refused to stay inside their homes, most of which are made of wood, for fears of further gale-force winds. Instead, many of them are sheltering underneath their houses.