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.