One dead as flood inundates 1,000 of homes in Rokan Hilir

Puji Santoso and ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Pekanbaru/Surabaya

Flooding has spread over the past week across Rokan Hilir regency, Riau province, affecting some 3,600 houses as of Tuesday and killing one.

Darwin, 7, was swept away by a strong current a few days ago as he played with his friends in a river near his house in Sedinginan subdistrict, Tanah Putih district.

Heavy rains caused several rivers in the regency to overflow last week, with the runoff flooding at least three districts.

Hundreds of residents had taken refuge as of Tuesday on higher ground, as the water reached a depth of 3 meters in some areas.

Aside from houses, the regency's main roads were also flooded to a depth of 30 centimeters to 50 cm, including Jl. Teluk Berembun, cutting road access between Riau and North Sumatra provinces.

"Only trucks and buses can pass the roads," said Andreas, a resident of Bagansiapi-api, Rokan Hilir regency, about 200 kilometers north of Riau's provincial capital of Pekanbaru.

Separately, a meteorology official in Surabaya warned on Tuesday that more storms and heavy rains were expected.

"The sky over the city is full of cumulonimbus clouds today (Tuesday), suggesting that storms and heavy rains are likely to fall ... in the next few days," said Edy Waluyo, head of the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) at Tanjung Perak port.

Edy called on airlines and commercial shipping companies to take precautionary measures against possible storms that could endanger travel by air or sea.

Surabaya was hit by a strong storm on Monday, which toppled trees and electricity poles. Rain again fell on Tuesday in some parts of the city, albeit lighter than the previous day.

Meanwhile, regional governments, including that of Central Kalimantan province, are preparing measures in anticipation of natural disasters and other possible adverse impacts during the rainy season.

The Central Kalimantan government has earmarked Rp 7 billion (US$744,680) to tackle flood problems.

Part of the fund would be used for dredging canals in Palangkaraya, the provincial capital, Tony Prihartono, head of the Central Kalimantan Public Works Agency, was quoted as saying by Antara news agency.

The Malang municipal government is also planning to dredge canals and rivers to prevent possible flooding, complemented by a clean river campaign.

A key campaign message is that residents should not throw garbage into rivers, Suyono, a senior Malang official, was quoted by Antara.

Residents' habit of throwing garbage into local rivers has clogged sluices in the city and shallowed the riverbed, contributing to the annual flooding.