Indonesia: Personnel deployed as thousands still affected by flooding in Malang

Aman Rochman The Jakarta Post 19 Oct 17;

Personnel from the regional disaster mitigation agency (BPBD), the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI), as well as the police and the military were on standby at a command post set up at the GKJW Ebent Heazer church in Sitiarjo village in Malang, East Java, on Thursday.

Flooding that hit the village on Wednesday has begun to ease, but hundreds of houses were still inundated, temporarily displacing more than 1,000 residents.

The flooding was caused by an overflow of water from the Penguluran River following intense rain over the past few days.

Malang BPBD head Bambang Istiawan said there were no reports of major damage caused by the disaster.

“We hope there will be no more heavy downpour, so the personnel can help clean the houses and public facilities,” he said.

Meanwhile, Arif Rizal, a teacher at the Tsanawiyah Hargokuncaran Islamic high school, which has been heavily flooded, said three of the school’s six classrooms could not be used.

“The school is still in operation, but students spend less time, because they have to share the remaining three classrooms,” he said. (bbs)