SP/Muhammad Hamzah, SP/Arnold Sianturi, SP/Usmin & SP/Radesman Saragih Jakarta Globe 9 Nov 12;
Banda Aceh/Medan/Bengkulu/Jambi. Floodwaters have begun receding in parts of Aceh and North Sumatra, but the torrential rains that have wreaked havoc there over the past week are now moving south and inundating large swaths of Bengkulu and Jambi provinces.
In Aceh Singkil district, one of the worst-hit areas, floodwaters that swamped nearly 500 hectares of farmland and swept away two bridges since the start of the week were reported to be going down as of Wednesday.
Nasruddin Solin, head of the Aceh Singkil Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), said on Thursday that the waters, in some places as high as two meters, had receded enough for some schools to reopen.
He said his agency was now working with the district health office and the local military command to deal with an outbreak of skin rashes and other waterborne illnesses being reported by residents.
Dulmusrid, the deputy district head, blamed the severity of the flooding in Aceh Singkil on overflowing local rivers and on torrents of water rushing downstream from Southeast Aceh district and the town of Subussalam.
In West Aceh district, floodwaters up to a meter high have also begun receding.
However, three subdistricts remain isolated, with thick layers of mud cutting off access to those areas and leaving residents unable to get out and authorities unable to send relief supplies in.
Fadli, the head of Woyla subdistrict, said there were thousands of residents in his area and neighboring East Woyla and West Woyla
subdistricts stranded there with no way to get out, while the authorities had no way to get relief supplies in.
He urged the district authorities to start clearing up the roads as soon as possible.
In North Sumatra’s Serdang Begadai district, water levels were also falling by Wednesday, but a flash flood in the afternoon swept away a 5-year-old boy. His body was later found not far from where he had been dragged into the water.
Nearly 2,000 people were forced to flee their homes in the district because of the flooding on Monday and Tuesday that left entire neighborhoods inundated in up to a meter of water.
Many residents said they would continue to remain in government shelters, until the water level had receded even further, before returning home, for fear of more flash floods.
With the rains moving south, officials in Bengkulu and Jambi are bracing for similar flooding in their regions.
Eko Agusrianto, a Bengkulu administration spokesman, said on Thursday that Acting Governor Junaidi Hamsyah had called on all officials to be ready for the high possibility of flooding.
“We’re not hoping for floods in Bengkulu, but our experience shows that every rainy season, there are regions here that get flooded, so we need to prepare for this,” Eko said.
The provincial capital, Bengkulu, as well as the districts of North Bengkulu, Seluma and Lebong have already seen minor flooding, with the situation feared to get worse before it gets better.
“If the heavy rains continue for quite a while, then people living on the banks of rivers should be ready to evacuate, so that when the floods and landslides hit, we can minimize fatalities,” Junaidi said.
In Jambi, provincial authorities have highlighted the lack of preparedness by district and municipal officials to deal with potential flooding.
Syahrasaddin, the provincial secretary, said on Wednesday that Jambi city and East and West Tanjungjabung districts did not have their own disaster mitigation agencies. Those regions have a combined 20 neighborhoods known to be prone to severe flooding.
