Jakarta, Dec 3, 2015 (Antara) - Indonesia is bracing itself for the floods and landslides expected during the coming rainy season after the devastation caused by the El Nino-induced prolonged drought that triggered forest fires, particularly on Sumatra and Kalimantan Islands.
As the rainy season has just begun, downpours have triggered floods and landslides in some regions, including in the provinces of North Sumatra, Aceh, West Sumatra, Riau, and Jakarta.
Landslides killed two residents of Pematangsiantar in North Sumatra Province and injured 14 others following incessant heavy rains on the evening of December 1.
Four people were seriously wounded and administered intensive medical care in nearby hospitals.
The landslides caused moderate damage to nine houses and serious damage to two others in the villages of Banjar and Simarito in Pematangsiantar. The rains also triggered floods in Pematangsiantar.
In Aceh Province, floods hit 12 sub-districts in West Aceh District, forcing over seven thousand people to evacuate to safer places since Nov. 24 following incessant heavy rains.
The floods were triggered by torrential rains and the overflowing of the rivers in the district, Joni Nuriyanto, the head of the West Aceh disaster mitigation office, stated.
The floods have damaged houses and public facilities in the affected sub-districts, he added.
A house was destroyed in Mereubo sub-district, two were swept away in Woyla sub-district, and a community health post in Arongan sub-district was seriously damaged by the floods.
Several bridges, including the Krueng Beukah Bridge, collapsed due to floodwaters reaching heights between 50 centimeters and 1.5 meters.
West Woyla sub-district was isolated as it was surrounded by waters reaching a height of up to 80 centimeters.
In Riau, floods inundated hundreds of houses in some villages in Kuantan Singingi District as the rivers overflowed following incessant heavy rains.
"Some residents have moved to safer places. As the rivers overflowed, several houses are submerged in floodwaters," Novrion from the Logas Tanah Darat Sub-district noted in Teluk Kuantan.
Floodwaters have reached a height of up to 1.5 meters in residential areas, he remarked.
In West Sumatra Province, floods inundated Nagari Pangkalan, Lampuluh Kota District, on Nov. 29 following incessant heavy rains.
Some residential areas, particularly in Jorong Sopang, were inundated, with floodwaters reaching a height of up to a meter, Head of the Limapuluh Kota disaster mitigation office (BPBD) Nasriyanto remarked.
The flooding also cut off roads that connect the provinces of West Sumatra and Riau.
In mid-November, floods triggered by heavy rains submerged 325 houses in Pesisir Selatan District, West Sumatra Province.
The floods not only inundated houses but also destroyed some 25 hectares of paddy fields in the sub-district, with material losses estimated at hundreds of millions of rupiah.
The flooding was caused by the Batang Punggasan River overflowing its banks. As a result, several residents of the sub-district were forced to take refuge at their relatives' houses.
"In Lagan Gadang Mudiak and Punggasan, Linggo Sari Baganti sub-district, 235 homes were submerged in waist-deep floodwaters," local resident Muis stated on Nov. 12.
In North Sumatra, floods, reaching heights of up to two meters, inundated some 1.5 thousand houses in the South and East Binjai sub-districts of Binjai City.
Two houses were swept away by the floods. The Sei Mencirim village in East Binjai and Setia village in Binjai City were among the worst flood-hit areas.
Floods also submerged hundreds of houses in Medan, the capital of North Sumatra, following incessant heavy rains.
The worst flooded areas included the urban villages of Aur and Sei Mati located in Medan Maimun sub-district.
Heavy downpours triggered Deli and Babura Rivers to overflow and inundated the sub-districts of Medan Maimun, Medan Selayan, and Medan Johor.
Besides residential areas, the campus of the University of North Sumatra (USU) was also flooded.
Not only on Sumatra Island but the floods have also begun affecting parts of Kalimantan Island, such as in Central Kalimantan, where floodwaters inundated tens of houses in Muara Teweh, North Barito District, as the Bengaris River overflowed on Nov. 17.
Muara Teweh was among the cities seriously affected by haze produced by the wildfires during the drought season.
In Jakarta, which is prone to annual flooding, floodwaters, reaching a height of up to four meters, inundated the Kampung Pulo area, East Jakarta, recently.
In the meantime, Environmental Affairs and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya has called for better flood control management, particularly in Jakarta this year.
"Following the central government's directive, the Jakarta administration and other regions and provinces have taken flood prevention efforts, which are expected to yield better results this year," Minister Nurbaya stated during a recent visit to the Katulampa sluice gate.
Since 2014, the government has planted trees in the river upstream areas covering a total area of 500 hectares, she noted.
"We have also installed some 50 wire-basket gabions to reduce the force of the flow of floodwaters, so they could prevent flooding in Jakarta," the minister explained.
The government has also covered some 150 eroded areas and has built absorption wells to address the problem of flooding.
The ministry has ordered the construction of 1.1 thousand absorption wells, she revealed.
Nurbaya is optimistic that the flood prevention measures being carried out by the Jakarta and West Java administrations would be effective.
The government will build two dams in West Java as part of its efforts to control floods in Jakarta, Public Works and Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono stated.
"The two dams called Sukamahi and Ciawi will be built in 2016," the minister noted during a coordination meeting with stakeholders in Jakarta on Nov. 12.
In fact, Jakarta has been making preparations to face the coming rainy season by providing personnel to handle flooding in the capital city.
"Based on the weather forecast by the Jakarta office of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG), mild to heavy rains are expected between the second week of January and the third week of February in 2016. In view of this, we must be alert in case a disaster (flooding) occurs," Masrokhan, the city's head of social affairs, said in a press statement.
Data from Jakarta's Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) revealed an increase in the number of areas affected by floods in early 2015 compared to 37 sub-districts and 125 villages, which experienced serious flooding on earlier instances.
"We have readied personnel and the required means and facilities to deal with the impact of flooding. We have set up 20 "Kampung Siaga Bencana" (neighborhood disaster alert-KSB) teams in villages prone to flooding. Social service teams in five mayoralties must continue to coordinate with sub-district and village administrations and the KSB and should be ready to handle the flood situation," he emphasized.
He hoped that if flooding does occur this year, it would not be as severe as recorded in the previous years.
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(f001/INE/o001)
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