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)