RELIEF AID, EQUIPMENT RUSHED TO VICTIMS OF GARUT FLOODING by Fardah

     Jakarta, Sept 22, 2016 (Antara) - Indonesia is in mourning following the tragedy in Garut District, West Java Province, where flash floods have led to at least 23 deaths and left 18 others missing, four seriously injured, and 27 slightly wounded.

         The natural disaster that displaced more than one thousand people, was triggered by incessant heavy rains, which caused the Cimanuk and Cikamuri rivers to overflow on Sept. 20 evening.

         Dr Slamet Public Hospital, Tarogong Kidul police office, main roads, school buildings, and residential areas were submerged by floodwaters, which reached a height of up to two meters in one area, according to an eye witness.

         The flood-affected sub-districts included Bayongbong, Garut City, Banyuresmi, Tarogong Kaler, Tarogong Kidul, Karang Pawitan, and Samarang. 
     Search efforts are still underway for the missing people, involving a joint Search and Rescue Team, which includes officers of the local Search and Rescue office (Basarnas), the Regional Disaster Mitigation office (BPBD), the military and the police, as well as Red Cross agents and volunteers, according to spokesman of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.  

     The search efforts have focused on three flood-affected locations - Paris, Cimacan, and Wado - and areas along the Cimanuk River basin, stated Joshua, a spokesman for the Bandung Basarnas.

         Several victims were believed to have been swept away by the river current.

           "Many people have been reported missing, so the search continues," he said.

           Meanwhile, hundreds of refugees have been accommodated at the district military office with the West Java BPBD helping cope with the emergency.

          Relief aid has come in the form of funding, food, and medicine. Currently, the floodwaters have begun to recede, but the incident has left scenes of disaster in its wake.  
    Flood victims were accommodated in temporary shelters, among other things, at the Tarumanegara Regional Military Command Headquarters in Garut.

         BPBD has set up command posts and managed food packages for the refugees. The Garut district head has named the district military chief as the leader in charge of mitigating the impact of the disaster and controlling the emergency situation.

        Furthermore, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has ordered several relevant ministers to visit the disaster-hit district  to coordinate rescue efforts and send relief aid.

        On Sept. 22, Social Affairs Minister Khofifah Indar Parawansa visited victims of the flood and held prayers for the deceased.

       Each family of the deceased victims received Rp15 million as compensation from the minister.

       Minister Parawansa also visited flood-hit residential areas in the district and Dr Slamet Public Hospital, which was also inundated.

       She hoped the hospital could resume normal operations quickly to help flood victims needing medical treatment.

        The minister also visited Cimacan Kampong in Tarogong Kidul Sub-district to distribute relief aid.

        To help speed up the rescue efforts, the Public Works and Public Housing Ministry has deployed various necessary equipment and facilities to Garut.

        The ministry has sent seven clean water tank trucks, 17 public hydrants, 20 knockdown toilets, one sludge truck, and 200 jerrycans of drinking water, according to spokesman of the ministry Endra Atmawidjaja in Jakarta, Sept. 22.

       The facilities were provided for flood evacuees taking refuge in Gandasari Indah apartments, the local military office, Dr Slamet Hospital, and the manpower office.

        The public works ministry has also dispatched 2,000 gabion wire baskets to confine local rivers that had spillover on their banks.

        Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono also visited Garut to coordinate with Garut District Head Rudy Gunawan on the equipment and facilities needed to aid rescue efforts.

         In the meantime, some 60 km from Garut,  landslides triggered by heavy downpours hit several villages in South Sumedang Sub-district, Sumedang District, also West Java Province, on the same night (Sept. 20), killing four people and displacing over 700 villagers.

       A road connecting Bandung and Cirebon in the Cadas Pangeran area was covered with mud from the landslide. The local police and disaster mitigation office had deployed heavy equipment to clear the mud.

       In December last year, BNPB had warned that La Nina might intensify hydrometeorological natural disasters, such as floods, landslides, and whirlwinds, in parts of the country this year.

        According to the agency, at least 315 districts and municipalities across the country are prone to flooding, that might affect more than 63.7 million people. Some 274 districts and municipalities are at risk of landslides.

        Due to high precipitation, the provinces of Central, West, and East Java are prone to flooding, landslides, and strong winds, he pointed out.

         Nearly 99 percent of the natural disasters hitting Indonesia in 2014, such as floods, landslides, and whirlwinds, were hydrometeorological in nature.

         The agency's data revealed that 496 instances of whirlwinds, 458 occurrences of floods, and 413 incidents of landslides had affected Indonesia in 2014.

         Landslides led to 338 deaths, displaced 79,341 residents, and damaged 5,814 houses in Indonesia in 2014. ***4***
(f001/INE)
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(T.SYS/A/BESSR/F. Assegaf) 22-09-2016 16:35:13