Wet season sees country awash with floodwater

Irvan NR, The Jakarta Post, Palu, Central Sulawesi

Many parts of the country have been hit by flood in the past few days, killing at least two people and spreading disease.

The wet season began in November and brought floods along with it, reducing people's mobility drastically.

In the Central Java town of Demak, three-year-old Anis drowned in a river. Anis, a resident of Karangawen district, was strolling along the riverbank near her home without adult supervision when she slipped and fell into the river. She was immediately swept. Her body was found downstream several hours later in neighboring Guntur district.

Fifty-year-old Surip from Gayamsari, Semarang, and his friend Sulaiman were on their way to go fishing in East Banjirkanal River when Surip met a similar fate.

As the two were crossing a railway bridge over the river, a train approached and forced them to move aside. The train snagged Surip's fishing hook and caused him to fall into the river, in which the current was strong after days of heavy rain. His remains were found kilometers from the bridge.

Floodwaters in the Riau capital of Pekanbaru have subsided, but flood-related diseases have begun to appear.

Officials at health posts in Meranti Pandak and Pesisir subdistricts in Pekanbaru said on Monday that several residents had sought treatment.

"Most of them had skin disease and diarrhea," said Sahrudin, a health care worker.

Some tents were erected on high ground in the two subdistricts in order to accommodate evacuees from neighboring subdistricts, who were also affected by flood. The tents were packed with senior citizens and children.

Three children also died in flooding Riau province this month.

Meanwhile, floodwater has inundated most parts of Central Sulawesi since last Friday, disrupting traffic in many parts of the province.

The road connecting Parigi Mouting regency and Palu, the capital of Central Sulawesi, was cut by a landslide in Parigi Mounting regency. A bridge collapsed in Taweli district in the regency, making travel between Palu and Parigi Mouting regency impossible.

Hundreds of cars and motorcycles were trapped in the area, unable to continue their journey.

"I'll go back to Palu and wait until the traffic returns to normal," said Budi, a motorist from Palu who was about to cross the bridge on his way to Gorontalo, the capital of North Sulawesi.

Many civil servants who work in the Donggala regency administration, but live in Palu, missed work on Monday due to flooding. Some 100 civil servants from Palu were unable to reach their offices in the Donggala regency capital of Banawa, because Loli Oge bridge, some 13 kilometers south of Palu, collapsed in a torrent of floodwater.

They mingled with a crowd of people to observe the collapsed bridge, and then returned to their homes in Palu.

In Jambi, people resumed their daily activities on Monday after three days of flooding subsided. Many shops and restaurants had reopened. In other parts of the city, local residents were busy cleaning up their houses.