Over 10,000 houses submerged in Central Java

Agus Maryono, The Jakarta Post, Banyumas, Central Java

At least two people were killed and tens of thousands of others evacuated on Tuesday when their homes in three Central Java regencies were inundated by floodwater, caused by three days of incessant rain.

More than 10,000 houses in hundreds of villages in the Banyumas, Kebumen and Cilacap regencies were inundated by floods of between 0.5 meter and one meter in depth.

Wartiyen, a 75-year-old from Gebangsari village in Banyumas regency and 40-year-old Matbera from Karangbawang village in Cilacap regency, were drowned in the flash floods in their attempt to move their belongings to a safer location.

Torrential rains have drenched the southern part of Central Java since Saturday. Rain was still falling in Banyumas regency on Tuesday afternoon.

The flooding, which worsened after some rivers burst their banks, also severed routes linking Yogyakarta with Purwokerto and Purwokerto with Cilacap. A five-kilometer (km) section of the Purwokerto-Cilacap road was submerged to a depth of one meter, bringing traffic along the route to a stop.

A 10-km stretch of the Purwokerto-Yogyakarta road was flooded to a depth of between 0.5 meter and one meter.

The floods also damaged the railway line between Jeruk Legi and Kawunganten villages in Kebumen, paralyzing the route linking Kroya in Central Java and Bandung in West Java.

Damage to the line caused the Serayu train to derail in Jeruk Legi village on Monday night. The train could only be moved on Tuesday afternoon, but the route was still closed, leaving thousands of passengers stranded at stations between Kroya and Bandung.

Daryoto, an official from Kroya station, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday that railway company officials, assisted by locals, were working hard to repair the railway tracks damaged by the heavy downpours.

Witoyo, head of the community protection office in Kebumen, said that each subdistrict administration had set up shelters and communal kitchens for tens of thousands of people forced to flee their flooded homes.

"At least 60 villages in seven subdistricts in this regency were flooded out," he said, adding that these were the most serious floods to have hit the regency for several years.

Witoyo further said that they were now busy seeking donations in the form of food, clothing and blankets for the victims, who had lost almost all of their belongings in the disaster.

Didi Rudwiyanto, spokesman for the Banyumas regency administration, said that the embankment of the Sibrama river ruptured, causing water to inundate at least 500 houses. "Some 100 families had to be evacuated to the local village office," he said.

Rivers also burst their banks in some other villages in Banyumas regency.

Dozens of villages in Cilacap regency were inundated by up to one meter of floodwater. Thousands of villagers flocked to village offices, makeshift tents provided by local administrations and to the homes of neighbors that had not suffered flooding.

In the Bantarsari district of this regency, 10 houses were buried by a landslide, but no casualties were reported.

Cilacap regent Herry Tabri said that he would pay a visit to flooded areas on Wednesday.

The Cilacap regency administration blamed the flooding on the reduction in the width and depth of the rivers. Almost all rivers flowing through the affected regencies have estuaries at the Cilacap coast.

Chief of the regency's public works agency, Suprihono, told the media on Tuesday that at least six rivers were in an alarming condition due to sedimentation over the past 25 years. "The rivers have never been dredged during that period," he said, claiming the Cikawung, Cilopadang and Dermaji rivers to be the worst.

The reduction in depth, he said, had decreased the capacity of the rivers to about 25 percent of normal.

"These rivers must be dredged soon, otherwise they will pose serious risks to people living along their banks and 60,000 hectares of paddy field located nearby," he said.

He added that the regency administration had no funds for dredging the rivers. "We need some Rp 6 billion (US$600,000) for dredging, whereas the administration has allocated only around Rp 500 million," he said.