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)