FLOODS BADLY AFFECT PARTS OF INDONESIA DURING CURRENT RAINY SEASON by Fardah

Jakarta, Jan 17 , 2015(Antara) - Ninety-nine percent of the natural disasters hitting Indonesia in 2014 were hydro-meteorological in nature -- floods, landslides, and whirlwinds.

        The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) recently released data showing that 496 instances of whirlwinds,  458 floods, and 413 landslides affected Indonesia last year.

        The disasters claimed the lives of 355 people and forced 1.7 million to be evacuated. They also left 25,000 destructed houses in their wake.

        Currently, a number of provinces are experiencing flooding and landslides since the rainy season peaks between January and February.     

   
   "As predicted earlier, floods will continue to intensify as we enter January. Rainy season in January has the potential to trigger floods and landslides," Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman of BNPB, said on Jan. 14.

        The National Meteorological, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has forecast that very high-intensity rains can occur potentially in January and February 2015, in Central Java's northern coastal areas, western, and southern Banten, Aceh, South Sulawesi, Gorontalo, North Sulawesi, Papua and West Papua, he reported.

        Floods inundated thousands of houses in 16 districts and cities across Indonesia over the past few days, he noted.

        The flood-affected districts and cities include Malinau, Langkat, Kudus, Tegal, Demak, Rokan Hilir, Pandeglang, Semarang, Situbondo, Aceh Tamiang, Donggala, Labuan Batu Utara, Tebing Tinggi, Medan, Kupang, Bandung, and Jayapura.

        "Although there has been no major flooding, thousands of houses have been inundated in the regions," he noted.   
   In Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara Province, four people were reported killed when floods hit the districts of Timor Tengah Utara and in  Rote Ndao, early January. Head of the regional office of the disaster mitigation office (BPBD), Tini Thadeus, said her office had sent relief aid  to the affected areas in the two districts.

        Langkat District in North Sumatra Province was among the worst flood-affected areas, as 7,791 houses were inundated and a villager was killed.

        Floodwaters that reached a height of between 50 cm and 110 cm affected 22 villages in five subdistricts in Langkat, Irwan Syahri, the executive chairman of the Langkat Disaster Mitigation office (BPBD) said on Jan 14.

        Relief aid among other things consisting of instant noodles and mineral water was distributed to flood victims.  
   Floods have also inundated 1,147.5 hectares of rice fields in 10 sub-districts such as  Gebang, Babalan, Pangkalan Susu  and Pangkalan Brandan, in Langkat district.

        The floods triggered by heavy rains destroyed at least 179 hectares of rice field in the district of Langkat. 
   "Harvest would fail from the 179 hectares of rice field this year," an official of the district agriculture service Miswandi said in the village of  Stabat on Jan. 16.

        The Tebing Tinggi city in North Sumatra was flooded on three occasions during the last two weeks following incessant torrential rains in Simalungun District's upstream areas, leading to Padang and Bahilang rivers overflowing their banks.

        "Flood waters reaching heights between 20 centimeters and 1.5 meters inundated the sub-districts of Padang Hulu, Bajenis, Tebing Tinggi, and Rambutan in Tebing Tinggi District," Sutopo Nugroho stated.

        The Tebing Tinggi disaster mitigation office (BPBD) has evacuated several flood victims and also distributed relief aid.

        In Indonesia's western-most province of Aceh Darussalam, floods triggered by heavy rains, forced some 120,966 people to flee their flooded homes in the districts of East and North Aceh, BNPB's spokesman.

        The flash floods damaged at least 17,000 hectares of farming areas in North Aceh.

        "East and North Aceh are among the worst-affected areas, with floodwaters reaching a depth of 50 to 400 centimeters," Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said recently.

        The floods inundated 73 sub-districts in the seven districts of East Aceh, North Aceh, Aceh Tamiang, South Aceh, Pidie, Lhokseumawe and Banda Aceh, he affirmed.

        He further noted that the floods in East Aceh submerged 25,773 houses in 276 villages in 23 sub-districts, forcing 59,488 people (14,514 families) to seek refuge.

        Julok was the worst-hit sub-district in East Aceh, with floodwaters reaching a depth of up to two meters, the spokesman stated, adding that a total of 5,743 people from 26 villages evacuated to higher grounds.

        In Aceh Besar District, a villager went missing due to floods which also forced several hundreds of cows to be evacuated to safer areas. Heavy rains showered several villages in the district and caused landslides.

        In Bengkalis, Riau Province, also on Sumatra Island, floods inundated a number of villages, including Bantan, Pematang Duku, Ketam Putih, Muntai and Damon, in four sub-districts.

        The four inundated sub-districts were Bantan, Bukit Batu, Siak Kecil and Bengkalis, Head of the Bengkalis Disaster Mitigation Office (BPBD), M. Jalal said.

        Four Search and Rescue (SAR) teams were deployed to help evacuate flood victims and distribute relief aid in the flooded villages.

        Bantan was the worst affected of them all, with nearly 23 villages submerged under floodwaters and some 1,000 residents forced to flee to higher grounds.

        In East Java Province, floods inundated at least 763 houses in Gresik District,  following incessant heavy rains last week.

        The 763 flood-affected houses were located in 16 villages in two sub-districts - Balongpanggang and Benjeng, Benjeng Sub-district Head Suryo Wibowo said.

        District Head of Gresik Sambari Halim Radianto has instructed the local disaster mitigation office, BPBD, to provide relief aid and deploy rubber boats to evacuate flood victims.

        In West Java, floods had inundated five sub-districts in Bandung district. Flood waters reached heights ranging from 50 centimeters to 1.5 meters, forcing flood victims to evacuate to higher grounds.

        A total of 14,276 people, or 4,409 families, were housed at evacuation centers, of whom 5,365 persons (1,608 families) were in Baleendah sub-district, 5,827 (1,906 families) in Dayeuhkolot sub-district, 1,680 persons (498 families) in Bojongsoang sub-district, 747 people (229 families) in Ketapang subdistrict and 657 others (159 families) in the sub-district of Cicalengka.

        In Central Java, floods submerged 11 villages in Cilacap district.  The floodwaters measuring between 30 cm and one meter inundated villages such as Tinggarjaya, Sidareja, Gunungreja, Sidamulya, Sudagaran, Margasari, and Tegalsari in Sidareja sub-district, Cilacap district, local prominent figure Mardiyo Abdul Azis said recently.

        Similarly, in Banten Province, 1,071 houses were submerged in eight villages in Banjarsari sub-district, Lebak District, Banten Province, as the Cimoyan and Ciliman rivers overflowed their banks recently.

        "We urge the flood victims to evacuate to safer places," Madlias, a spokesman of the Lebak disaster mitigation office, cautioned recently.

        The floodwaters reached heights ranging between 1.5 and two meters. Some 1,167 families have been affected by the floods.

        The local authorities have distributed relief aid comprising 30 boxes of instant noodles, five boxes of mineral water, and a box of canned sardines, among other things.

        On Sulawesi Island, five villages were flooded and four houses were buried by landslides in North Gorontalo district, Gorontalo province.

        The five inundated villages were Milango, Bubode, Leyao and Jembatan Merah in Tomilito sub-district and Molonggota village in Gentuma sub-district of the North Gorontalo province, Nurdin Humolungo of the North Maluku Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) stated.

        According to the official, floodwaters in the villages reached heights of up to one meter. Some 250 houses in Milango village, 200 houses in Bubode village, 200 in Jembatan Merah, and 100 houses in Leyao village were flooded.

        On Kalimantan Island, floods had affected Hulu Sungai District and damaged tens of hectares of rice fields in Central Benawa village, Batu Benawa sub-district.

        Despite such wide-spread flooding, the worst might yet not be over, because the Geophysics, Meteorology and Climatology Agency (BMKG) has forecast that Indonesia's ongoing rainy season will see its peak between January and February 2015.

        "Weather forecast for the next three months indicates that the rainy season in Java will be at its peak during the January-February 2015 period," BMKG Chief Andi Eka Sakya affirmed in Jakarta on December 23, 2014.      
   Therefore, the government has intensified coordination in anticipation of flooding and landslides in the country.

        "The BNPB and its regional branch offices (BPBD) have held a coordination meeting in anticipation of flooding and landslides. It has also made a national contingency plan in the face of floods and landslides in 2015," Nugroho said.

        In Jakarta, for instance, BNPB is constructing 16 flood alert command posts at a number of points in Jakarta as part of efforts to deal with any anticipated flooding in the capital city and its surrounding areas. These are among 28 posts planned to be set up. ***4***
(f001/INE/B003)