Landslide destroys 11 more houses

Tarko Sudiarno, The Jakarta Post, Kebumen

Continued landslides in the village of Seling, in Sadang district, claimed 11 more houses on Friday bringing the total of homes destroyed since Tuesday to 62.

Last week 120 houses in the neighboring district of Ayah were destroyed by landslides. Parts of tens of other districts in the Kebumen, Banyumas and Cilacap regencies, in southern Central Java, were submerged by flood waters.

No fatalities were reported in the landslides in Seling, nine kilometers north of Kebumen.

Seling residents told The Jakarta Post on Friday that the landslides had cracked the ground. "The cracks gradually widen from day to day," said Mudiharjo, a local whose house was damaged.

"The floor of my house is divided into two parts by a wide crack, which widens from time to time. The crack is about 2.5 meters deep. The house needs to be demolished," he said minutes before some neighbors came to help him tear down his house.

At least eight houses were demolished on Friday.

Spokesman for Kebumen regency Ageng Sulistyo said that the regency could only help the homeless families by providing food.

"To deal with the flood victims the regency had spent some Rp 1.6 billion," said Ageng. "We are really burdened."

Meanwhile, Rusmanto, a geologist at the Laboratory of Geology in Karangsambung said that the natural phenomenon in the village of Seling was not surprising.

The structure of the soil is very weak, according to Rusmanto. "The soil cracks in the dry season and undergoes weathering processes by the rainwater pressures."

Areas in the southern part of Central Java are vulnerable to flooding and landslides.