Thousands flee flooded houses in N. Sumatra

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan, North Sumatra

Thousands of people in Medan, North Sumatra, were forced to flee their homes after the Deli River breached its banks overnight Monday.

The exodus, from riverbank areas in the subdistricts of Medan Maimoon and Medan Polonia, started on Monday night after floodwaters reached two meters.

The took refuge at places of worship, village head offices and houses in safer areas.

The flooding was worst in several parts of Medan Maimoon, forcing at least two elementary schools on Jl. Brigjen Katamso to close.

However, by Tuesday afternoon the refugees had begun to return home as the floodwaters receded in a number of areas.

The Medan administration said the refugees numbered in their thousands, including around 500 families from Kampung Baru, 1,760 people from Aur, 106 families from Suka Damai, 200 families from Sei Mati and 300 others from Sukaraja.

Medan Maimoon administration secretary Syarifuddin Harahap said the flood, triggered by rain, started to flood houses around 10 p.m. on Monday.

Floodwaters continued to increase after the river burst its banks, he added.

"As it was at night, the residents were extremely panicked. Because floodwaters continued to increase until Tuesday morning, many of them had to flee their homes," Syarifuddin told The Jakarta Post.

He said there were no reports of injuries or casualties from the flooding, but added that many victims had incurred losses as their goods and important documents were submerged.

Jumirin, a 50-year old resident from Sukaraja, said many people had lost personal property, including TV sets and furniture. Important documents had been damaged or swept away by the flood.

"The most important thing is all our family members are safe from the disaster," he said.

Ismunandar, welfare division head at the Medan administration, said his office provided food assistance to the flood victims on Tuesday through taskforces in neighborhoods and subdistricts.

Medan Mayor Abdillah had instructed all village and subdistrict heads to set up health centers to help the refugees, he said.

"Such health centers are useful for post-flood victims because Medan is being plagued by an outbreak of dengue fever," Ismunandar added.

At least 12 people, mostly children, have died from the mosquito-borne disease in several regencies across North Sumatra between March and September, local health officials have said.

Firman, who heads the Polonia office of the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG), warned residents in Medan that more floods could follow because rain would continue to fall this month accompanied by strong wind.

Since last week, several parts of Java island, where farmers and other villagers suffered the worst brunt of the devastating drought, have seen occasional rainfalls.

Environmentalists have urged the regional administrations and residents to prepare for possible floods to hit their areas during the upcoming wet season.

Five people were killed in a rain-triggered landslide that struck a sand quarry in Caringin district, Bogor, West Java, on Saturday.

On Sept. 16, nine people were killed after a landslide swept away eight houses located on the slope of a deforested hill, Patrol, in Wangonjaya village, Cikalong Wetan regency, near Bandung, West Java.

The Bandung administration has listed Cikalong Wetan as one of 22 landslide-prone districts in the regency.