One killed as floods hit the country

One killed as floods hit the country

JAKARTA (JP): A two-month old baby was killed and thousands of houses were submerged as torrential rains hit a number of areas in the country over the past few days.

Baby Yahya, son of Karmin and Ranti, was killed when a strong downpour destroyed 27 houses in Tawang Rejo village in the Gemarang district near Madiun, East Java, on Monday.

Regency spokesman Bambang Purnomo was quoted by Antara as saying on Monday that strong winds, which began on Sunday afternoon, also caused damages estimated at Rp 74 million and left several families without shelter.

Further west, at least 60 houses and several hectares of farmland in four districts around Bandung, West Java, are reportedly submerged in up to 75 centimeters of water caused by the overflowing of the nearby Citarum River.

Some 150 residents from the Cimahi, Cipongkor, Dayeuhkolot and Parongpon districts have had to be evacuated since Citarum's water level began rising on Sunday.

In North Sumatra, thousands of houses in the six subdistricts along the Deli Medan River were destroyed due to heavy rains Monday evening.

The secretary of the Hamdan subdistrict, Juma Ginting, said that at least 230 houses in his area were flooded. He said that damages this year have so far been much less than that of two years ago, when 500 houses were submerged.

"In general, residents were more prepared to tackle this year's flood. In an emergency, the families not hit by the flood spontaneously set-up public kitchens to help those in need," Juma said. (mds)