Tidal swell leaves hundreds homeless in Aceh

Tidal swell leaves hundreds homeless in Aceh

JAKARTA (JP): Some 1,276 North Acehnese were forced to abandon
their villages after losing their homes to a tidal swell.

Antara quoted a public relations officer in Lhokseumawe, Aceh,
as saying on Wednesday that the tidal swell, brought on Sunday by
a full moon, had hit a number of coastal villages, with those in
Banda Sakti district being the worst hit.

The official, Iskandar Nasri, said seven houses in Hagu
Teungoh had collapsed, while dozens of others were destroyed from
waves and strong winds which residents said came on "suddenly".

In Tanoh Ano village, Muara Batu district, 31 kilometers to
the west of Lhokseaumawe, 35 houses were lost and at least 197
people had to flee to safety.

Thirty-five families were also evacuated from Pusong Baru
village in Dewantara district, 18 kilometers from Lhokseumawe.

Iskandar said Mobil Oil Indonesia Inc. and the local
administration had started relief operations.

Muara Batu district head Sunan Ibrahim said a tremendous
amount of soil had been swept to sea along the coast of Tanoh Ano
as far as one kilometer inland and measuring 100 meters in width.

In Central Java, flash floods and a landslide, caused by
incessant rain and strong winds, killed two people and damaged 12
houses and a mosque in Banjarnegara, Purbalingga and Cilacap
regencies on Tuesday.

Col. Iskandar, chief of the Banyumas Police Precinct, said
that the two victims, Kusmiati, 23, and her child Indra, 5, were
killed in a landslide in Sidahayu village, Majenang subdistrict.

He added that Kusmiati's husband, Syahrudin, survived the
landslide.

"I couldn't save them because I was also struck down by the
landslide which suddenly hit our house," Kusmiati was quoted as
saying.

Iskandar said the incessant rains over the previous three days
had caused the Citanduy and Cibanganjing rivers to overflow,
inundating thousands of hectares of paddy fields and numerous
villages.

He said 45 families, whose houses were damaged in the
disaster, had been evacuated to safety in nearby areas.

School activities have been stopped temporarily in Banyumas in
order to wait for the flood to subside. (45/rms)