Landslides, floods kill 49 in West Sumatra

JAKARTA (JP): Massive floods and landslides resulting from days of torrential rain and storms in West Sumatra have claimed at least 49 lives with dozens of others reported missing and feared dead.

The disaster left most of the regencies here crippled with electricity blackouts and closed main highways throughout the province.

A mudslide in Talu village, Pasaman regency on Sunday buried five houses, leaving five people dead, two injured and 14 others missing, Antara reported.

In Talawi village, Sepuluh Koto Tarusan district, in Pesisir Selatan regency, five people were swept away in the strong current of the overflowing Batang Tarusan river and are feared dead. Residents said 12 others were still missing.

A mudslide also covered Calao village in Bayang district on Saturday, killing five residents, while 23 others were declared missing.

In Padang mayoralty, three people were reportedly swept away in the river that flows through the city, and are presumed dead, while eight others were seriously injured after being buried under a mudslide.

Five people were killed, 20 others went missing and 85 people were unaccounted for after flooding and a mudslide in the Malalo district in the town of Singkarak, Tanah Datar regency.

In Padang Pariaman regency, six bodies were recovered in separate locations, three from the Limau river, two in Lubuk Alung and one in the area south of here. Residents of the regency also said that 11 people were seriously injured.

Strong river currents also killed one person in the Batang Lembang area of Solok mayoralty.

An official with the West Sumatra administration predicted that some 60,000 people in the disaster-hit areas could soon face famine if the rain continued.

He said the persistent, heavy rain and storms across the province had hampered search and rescue teams in conducting relief operations. The total material losses in the province's nine mayoralties and regencies affected by the flood had reached Rp 350 billion, he added.

Rescue teams were still unable to reach eight villages in the hardest-hit regency of Pesisir Selatan on Sunday due to the rising water levels which had already reached five meters. Some 12,000 residents were feared to be trapped in the locations.

Rescuers predicted that the number of fatalities were likely to climb as the storms were continuing and they had not yet been able to search all of the disaster-hit villages, a local reporter said on Sunday.

"Mud floods have also killed at least 5,000 head of cattle, as well as chickens and goats," the reporter told The Jakarta Post by phone.

Also destroyed were 9,600 hectares of rice and irrigated fields, with at least seven bridges being swept away by the floodwaters.

The erosion resulting from the floods has caused the subsidence of some 60 kilometers of the road connecting Solok and Padang with water reaching as high as one meter in several places.

There is no official data on the number of refugees but residents from the disaster-hit areas have abandoned their villages and sought shelter in local administration buildings.

"People here are terrified as it is still raining and it gets pretty dark at night since PLN (state-owned electricity company) has switched off the power in most areas," Ita Risman, a resident of downtown Padang told the Post.

The areas worst hit by mud floods were Pesisir Selatan and Tanah Datar regencies and Padang and Solok mayoralties.

Floods also hit Aceh, following incessant rain since Wednesday, private television station SCTV reported on Sunday.

At least five people were killed by floods in Bireun and North Aceh regencies,Antara news agency reported.

The disaster, said to be the worst since 1953, has cut electricity supplies and telephone lines as well as several highways in the province.

West Sumatra's two neighboring provinces have also suffered the impacts of the rain heavily poured Sumatra island over the past week.

In Jambi, the floods destroyed around 3,500 hectares of rice fields and homes of residents of four regencies in Kerinci district.

Meanwhile in Bengkulu, houses in at least three regencies were soaked by water up to 1.5 meter height following three days of rain. (bby/edt/lup)