One missing as flood hits West Sumatra
One missing as flood hits West Sumatra
JAKARTA (JP): At least one resident was missing in flood
waters on Thursday in the Agam regency in West Sumatra from where
600 people have been evacuated.
Agam regent Ismu Nazif said that apart from the missing
resident, material losses were estimated at Rp 1.1 billion
(US$100,000) after 16 houses in the Lubuk Basung were destroyed
and 150 others submerged under four meters of water.
"Hundreds of hectares of paddy fields and farmers' land are
soaked in mud and dozens of cattle are dead," Antara quoted Ismu
as saying.
Apart from Agam, Padang mayoralty and Pesisir Selatan regency
were also hit by floods following heavy rains since Tuesday.
In another Agam district, Tanjung Mutiara, 206 houses and 75
hectares of paddy fields were inundated.
Antara reported that two districts in Agam, Lubuk Basung and
Tanjung Mutiara, were the worst hit in the province.
Agam regent Ismu said among the distributed aid so far were
1,060 items of clothing, 90 sarongs and food.
In Padang a number of areas were flooded by up to 50
centimeters. In Pesisir Selatan, the only affected district was
Surantih.
West Java
Flood and landslide prevention measures are being taken in
West Java to protect an estimated 70,000 hectares in 50
districts.
"There are 55 rivers which are likely to cause floods,"
West Java's public works officer in charge of flood prevention,
M. Soekarman, said.
Some of the rivers are the Citarum and Cisangkuy in Bandung,
and Ciliman and Cilember in Pandeglang.
Soekarman said preventive measures included the identification
of vulnerable landslide locations and the widening of rivers.
A serious constraint on necessary repairs was the lack of
materials such as plastic sacks, he said.
The director of the Jatiluhur Dam, Tukul Santoso, and the head
of the Citarum development project, Suraji, said an indication of
flooding caused by the La Nia weather phenomenon was the
increased flow of the Citarum river.
By mid-September the flow had reached five billion cubic
meters, higher than the level throughout last year which averaged
three billion cubic meters, Suraji said.
Higher rain levels than usual for this time of year had
increased the flood potential in South Bandung, Karawang, Subang,
Indramayu and Ciamis, Suraji added.
West Java public works data shows that estimated areas liable
to flood include 12,460 hectares in Pandeglang, 4,400 hectares in
Lebak, 2,980 hectares in Serang, 1,450 hectares in Tangerang,
9,000 hectares in Karawang, 4,900 hectares in Subang, 13,600
hectares in Indramayu, 6,000 hectares in Cirebon and 14,000
hectares in Ciamis, Antara reported. (anr)