Two missing as major floods hit Cenral Java

Two missing as major floods hit Cenral Java

SEMARANG (JP): Two people went missing and thousands fled
their homes as major floods hit Central Java's northern coastal
towns on Saturday, officials said yesterday.

The floods triggered by incessant downpours inundated more
than 10,000 houses in Semarang, Demak, Pati and Jepara.

A 50-year-old widow, whose house was washed away, in Semarang
and a 60-year-old woman in Pati have been declared missing. They
are feared dead.

Semarang and Pati were the worst hit with flood levels
reaching one meter. Residents there said the disaster was
probably the worst in 40 years.

In Pati, at least 45 houses collapsed and 400 others were
damaged in the storm. The Pati regent estimated material losses
at Rp 2 billion (US$850,000).

"We will send food and medicine to the stricken areas as soon
as possible," he said.

In Pati's Dukuh Seti and Tayu subdistricts, were the flooding
peaked, there was widespread panic.

"This is the worst flood I have seen in 40 years," said
Haryono, a local resident.

Semarang was flooded after the Garang river overflowed,
hitting schools, shop{, a railway station, the governor's
residents and hospitals.

"We had to move dozens of patients to the second floor after
the water level on the ground floor reached 40 centimeters," said
the manager of Tlogorejo Hospital.

Doctors and many patients' relatives were stranded in the
hospital all night because of the heavy rain and widespread
flooding, she said.

At least two trains canceled their departure to Jakarta from
Tawang railway station where the water was 70 centimeters deep,
said officials of the state railway company. (har/pan)