Over 4,000 flee floods in Bandung

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

More than 4,000 people fled their homes on Monday as floods hit parts of Bandung regency following three days of heavy rain since Saturday, which caused the Citarum river, one of the biggest in West Java, to burst its banks.

The flooding from the Citarum sends a warning of more possible flooding in Jakarta as the river is connected to the main rivers in the capital, including the Cisadane and Ciliwung.

The flooding affected around 11,000 residents across Bandung as smaller rivers also burst their banks, but only around 4,300 of them were evacuated to take shelter in mosques, schools and other buildings in safer areas.

Almost one-third of the low-lying areas of Bandung and around 2,647 houses in several parts of the city's downtown were inundated, said Suwarna Surya, a local senior official involved in the disaster control task force.

He said the affected areas included Rancaekek, Baleendah, Dayeuhkolot, Bojongsoang and Solokan Jeruk, where the floodwaters had risen to between 50 centimeters and three meters in depth.

No casualties were reported in the floods.

Head of the Dayeuhkolot administration, Harry Wahyono, said that six neighborhoods in his subdistrict were the worst hit areas with floodwaters standing at three meters.

"Our area is the worst hit by the floods," he told The Jakarta Post.

Suwarna said the floodwaters continued to rise sharply due to heavy rain on Sunday and Monday.

He said at least 15 of the flooded subdistricts in Bandung were vulnerable to annual flooding during the rainy season.

Aside from inundating houses and farmland, the floods also cut the roads linking Baleendah with Rancamanyar, and Palasari with Sayati.

Hundreds of public transportation vehicles serving the flooded routes had to temporarily halt their operations.

Residents in southern parts of Bandung blamed the floods plaguing the lowlands on extensive deforestation on higher ground in northern parts of the city.

Suwarna said the regency administration had tried to reduce the flood danger by dredging the Citarum river in 1990.

But this had failed to prevent or reduce the flooding, he added.

Endang Nana, a local meteorologist, said the high level of rainfall in Bandung and nearby regencies had added to the severity of the problem.

He explained that precipitation in these areas could reach 60 millimeters per hour.

However, Nana said the rains during February had not been as heavy as the rainfall on Christmas Eve last year, which reached a massive 79.5 millimeters per hour.

Floods and landslides have hit many cities and towns across the country since December during this delayed rainy season, leaving dozens of people drowned or buried under mudslides and rockfalls.

In Bali, a 65-year-old man was found dead after drowning in the swollen Panes river in Seririt subdistrict, Bulelang regency, local police said on Monday.

I Made Rai had tried to cross the 12-meter-wide river on Saturday but was swept away by the raging torrent. His two companions -- Ketut Witana, 45, and Made Toya, 30, -- survived the accident, Antara reported.

Rai's body was found floating five kilometers away from the scene by local residents and police officers, who had been searching for him along the river.