Three die, three others go missing in Bali flood
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
At least three people were killed and another three missing after a dike burst on the resort-island of Bali due to the continued heavy rains on Tuesday.
The death toll from five-days of torrential rains and the subsequent flooding throughout Indonesia had reached 18 yesterday evening, including 12 deaths in Greater Jakarta, reports said.
The victims from Buleleng Regency, some 85 kilometers north of Bali's capital Denpasar, were identified as Luh Sukerti, 12, of Kabutambahan Village, Ni Made Sukreni, 16, of the Pantai Bukti and Gede Ananta, 6, of Singaraja.
Ananta died when he and his father became trapped in floodwaters which surrounded their car.
Three other unidentified people are believed to have been washed away in the island's north.
Buleleng police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Safei said a dike on the Tejakulo River failed due to the downpour.
He said Sukerti, an elementary school student, died after she was buried by a landslide near her house in East Buleleng. Her body was recovered on Tuesday night.
Bali provincial police spokesman Ad. Sr. Comr. Y. Suyatmo called on people living in coastal areas prone to floods and landslides to move to safe areas.
Rescue workers in Situbonda, East Java recovered on Wednesday the body of Yul, 35, who was killed in the floods that hit the regency on Tuesday. One other victim is still missing.
Situbondo police precinct chief Sr. Comr. Untung Suharsono said the highway connecting Surabaya and Banyuangi was closed due to muddy flood waters one meter deep. Traffic between the two towns was diverted south.
About 100 of 275 vehicles are still trapped along a ten- kilometer section of highway in the regency despite the local administration deploying bulldozers and hundreds of rescue workers, including 150 police personnel, to help.
Situbondo resident Ikhwanuddin said all people from the trapped vehicles had been rescued but the vehicles themselves could not be removed because a number were snagged by fallen trees.
The floods also hit an Islamic boarding school and two elementary schools, closing them.
A five-year-old child was also drowned in floods in Sidoarjo, while the provincial city of Surabaya, Jakarta's second largest city, was still submerged. Traffic was in chaos.
Meanwhile, remote parts of West Kalimantan were still being inundated by rain with no relief in site as the deluge continued.
The worst hit was Landak Regency where 20 elementary school buildings and thousands of houses were flooded. So far, 3,600 families have been evacuated to safety.
Meteorological forecasts predict the heavy rains could continue till the end of next February. People have been asked to remain alert to the dangers.
In East Bandung, West Java, flooding was blamed on the intensive development of housing areas on the slopes of Manglayang Mountain and on farmland, decreasing catchment areas in the provincial capital.
At least three companies are developing housing on the mountain's slopes.
In the province's north, thousands of hectares of paddy fields in Karawang, Indramayu and Cirebon were submerged raising fears of possible harvest failures in the next three months.
In central Sumatra, the traffic between Jambi and Riau was paralyzed due to flooding on several sections of the main highway connecting the two provinces.
Truck drivers said they would take the western route to continue their trip delivering basic commodities.