Indonesia: Flood in North Sumatra displaces thousands

Apriadi Gunawan The Jakarta Post 7 Nov 17;

A flood that hit several areas in North Sumatra a few days ago has forced thousands of residents to leave their homes for temporary shelters.

In the provincial capital of Medan, hundreds of homes were evacuated in Aur subdistrict, Medan Maimon district, early morning on Tuesday.

Floodwater one meter in depth inundated the houses.

A subdistrict official, Yahdi Sabil, said the flooding was caused by an overflow of the Deli River, following heavy downpour in the past few days.

He said that some residents living in multi-story houses chose to stay behind.

According to the Medan Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), Medan Maimun and Medan Johor were the districts most affected by the flood.

Read also: Personnel deployed as thousands affected by flooding in Malang

The operation and control manager at BPBD Medan, M. Yunus, said the agency had set up public kitchens in the temporary shelters.

"The flooding in Medan was also caused by an increase in the volume of water at the Babura River," he said.

Outside Medan, flooding was also reported in Langkat regency.

The overflowing Batang Serangan River resulted in the inundation of thousands of houses in six districts in the regency.

Iwan Syahri of BPBD Langkat said the hardest hit district was Tanjung Pura, where floodwater one meter in depth forced 699 families to leave their homes.

Other affected districts in the regency include Padang Tualang, Babalan, Sei Lepan, and Sawit Seberang.

“The flood also damaged 978 hectares of agricultural area, as well as several schools and worship places," Iwan said.

As of Tuesday afternoon, no casualties were reported. (bbs)



Flood Hits Several Regions in Indonesia
NetralNews 8 Nov 17;

JAKARTA, NETRALNEWS.COM - Heavy rain that hit some areas have caused floods that affected settlements. This flood is caused by the increase of rainfall that has caused rivers to overflow.

According to information received from Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, Head of Information and Public Relations Information Center of National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, Wednesday (11/08/2017), flood disaster recorded in Aceh Singkil regency, Asahan regency, Bandung regency, Balangan regency, city Medan and Pelalawan District.

"The destruction of watersheds is increasing the vulnerable areas of floods, even floods can occur repeatedly in one year," Sutopo saidon Wednesday (11/08/).

Sutopo said, for example, floods in District Dayeuhkolot, Baleendah and Bojongsoang Bandung regency can occur more than 15 times in one year. Similarly in Kabupaten Asahan, floods can occur five times a year.

"This happens because the more vulnerable the area due to damage to the watershed upstream, middle and downstream, consequently more sensitive settlement of disasters," said Sutopo.

Currently the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) together with the TNI, Polri, Basarnas, Regional Device Work Unit (SKPD), PMI, Tagana, volunteers, and the community handling emergency. Sutopo has also sent a circular to all BPBD to make efforts to anticipate the flood and landslide.

Sutopo said, coordination between various parties is done to anticipate disaster. Logistics and equipment are also closer to disaster points.

"Floods and landslides are predicted to occur in January 2010. The threat of floods and landslides will continue to increase along with the increase of rainfall," said Sutopo.

The areas affected with floods

On Wednesday (8/11/) early morning at around 02.00, floods hit eight villages in Suro District Aceh Singkil district of Aceh province. Floods occurred after the area was washed down by heavy rain in recent days. The height of the water caused by flash floods reached two meters, precisely in the Village of Bulusema, Suro District, Aceh Singkil. The national road connecting Aceh Singkil and Subulussalam can not be passed by vehicles.

The eight villages affected by the flood include Ujung Limus Village, Silatong, Tanjung Mas, Cububukan, Serasah, Lae Riman, Kajang Folding, and Golong Cloth. A total of 1738 people affected by flash floods. BPBD Aceh Singkil together with TNI, Police, Basarnas, SKPD, Tagana, PMI and volunteers to evacuate residents. The common kitchen has been set up.

Disconnected road access causes the vehicle queue from Singkil-Subulussalam direction and vice versa. Police and TNI are on guard at the flood site.

Floods also hit three districts in Bandung regency West Java Province namely District Dayeuhkolot, Baleendah, Bojongsoang dab on Tuesday (11/07) at 19:00. Heavy rains caused the Cisangkuy River, Cikapundung River and Citarum River to overflow so that it inundated 1,058 houses with flood heights of 10-150 centimeters. No casualties. People are accustomed to flooding. Every year this area has been flooded for a long time.

In the city of Medan floods hit the settlements in Johor Building Village, Johor District of Medan and Kelurahan Sukaraja, Aur, Sei Mati Medan Maimun District at 03.00 pm. A total of 775 houses with 1,240 families or 4,983 lives submerged in floods as high as 100-150 centimeters. Flooding caused by high intensity rain and overflow of Deli River. At this time the flood has gradually subsided.

At the same time, floods also hit in 9 villages in Halong District and District Juai Balangan Regency South Kalimantan Province at 05.00 WITA. The floods soaked 427 units of houses on stilts with flood height 50-150 centimeters. A total of 1242 people affected by floods and no casualties.

In Asahan district, floods still inundate 1,108 houses in Teluk Dalam Subdistrict and Simpang Empat Sub-district. Flood has struck since (4/11/2017) up to now. Asahan Regent has not set the emergency response flood disaster to date.

Currently, floods are still occurring in South Tapanuli Regency of North Sumatra Province. Heavy rains caused the river to overflow and embankments collapsed so that floods hit Angkola Sangkunur and Batangtoru Subdistricts.