Landslide hits 300 houses as flood subsides in Kebumen

Landslide hits 300 houses as flood subsides in Kebumen

Agus Maryono, The Jakarta Post, Cilacap

While the flood water that has been inundating 70 villages in
Kebumen regency gradually subsided, a landslide destroyed at
least 300 houses in Mangunweni village in the district of Ayah on
Saturday.

No fatalities were reported, but financial losses were
believed to be significant.

Six villages in the Ayah district, excluding Mangunweni, have
been devastated by the floods, which started to hit most of the
southern part of Central Java last Tuesday.

The chief of Mangunweni village, Turimin, told The Jakarta
Post on Sunday that a slight landslide had occurred in the
village, but locals had not taken it seriously despite the fact
that two people had been killed by last Tuesday's landslide.

"On Saturday a huge landslide struck 300 houses," Turimin
said, adding that 35 of the houses had been totally engulfed by
mud.

"A thundering sound was heard before the 150-meter hill
collapsed," said Turimin. "The villagers have been very familiar
with such a terrible sound."

"All families living in areas close to the collapsed hill have
been moved to safer places," he said.

Earlier this month a landslide in the village of Sruweng in
the regency of Kebumen killed at least nine people.

A spokesman for the Kebumen regency Ageng Sulistyo said that
recent landslides and floods had occurred as a result of
deforestation.

"Illegal logging has been rampant over the last two years," he
said. "We are calling on the villagers to reforest the barren
areas in the regency. We will start soon after the flood totally
subsides."

The latest flood devastated 70 villages in six districts in
Kebumen, twelve districts in Cilacap regency and three districts
in Banyumas.

Ageng said the recent Kebumen disaster might have resulted in
financial losses of almost Rp 27 billion (US$2.7 million).

In Cilacap, floodwaters totally subsided in most areas on
Sunday. Residents were seen busily drying their houses. Some of
them placed heaps of dried straw in their houses to help mop up
floors.

"Today, water in most flood-hit areas subsided. But that does
not mean that everything is okay. There will be problems around
the corner in the aftermath (of the flood)," Cilacap regency
spokesman Gatot Arif said here on Sunday.

"The flood victims' health becomes the top priority. The mud
left by the floodwater is still everywhere, making the
environment very difficult. In such a situation people may get
various diseases, skin problems and diarrhea."

"The regency will soon repair the demolished dikes and help
people rebuild their houses," he said.

To deal with floods in the future a multi-billion rupiah flood
control project is being planned by the Central Java
administration.

The project will include Rp 30 billion (US$3million) for
dredging the silted-up Segara Anakan estuary off Cilacap and for
the construction of waterways to channel water from Citanduy and
Cimeneng rivers.

According to Ageng, the situation was being worsened by the
shortage of food. "The people's rice has been submerged in the
water. It is very serious. We are hoping for as much aid as
possible to prevent people from starving."

Earlier reports said that at least 35,000 houses in Kebumen,
Banyumas and Cilacap regencies had been submerged in the latest
floods, which forced at least 30,000 people to evacuate their
homes.

As of Sunday almost all flood victims had returned home.