Wet season sees country awash with floodwater

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.