Thousands Still Trapped in Aceh In Wake of Strong Flash Flood

Thousands Still Trapped in Aceh In Wake of Strong Flash Flood
Dessy Sagita | February 27, 2012


The military and police are struggling to rescue thousands of people trapped in Aceh after a flash flood on Saturday pounded villages in the province and swept away dozens of homes, a national disaster agency said on Sunday. (Antara Photo)

The military and police are struggling to rescue thousands of people trapped in Aceh after a flash flood on Saturday pounded villages in the province and swept away dozens of homes, a national disaster agency said on Sunday.

Heavy rains in Pidie district on Saturday evening caused a flash flood that isolated eight nearby villages in Tangse district. Thirty houses were reportedly swept away in the flood, and one person, Tengku Idris, 55, has been reported missing.

Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), said the disaster marks the second flash flood to hit the area in the past 11 months.

Military officers, the police and rescuers from Pidie district’s disaster agency, BPBA, tried to rescue the trapped residents on Saturday but struggled to reach them because the Kuala Panteue bridge, which links the district to the main Beureunuen-Tangse road, had collapsed.

“Several villages in Tangse district were isolated, and relief supplies couldn’t get through from Jalan Beureunuen-Tangse bcause there was a pile of logs [blocking access] and a bridge that collapsed in Tangse district,” Asmadi Syam, an Aceh disaster mitigation officer, was quoted by Antara as saying on Sunday.

He said the rescue team would head back to the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, and cross Aceh Jaya and West Aceh districts to reach Tangse.

Asmadi added that the eight badly hit villages included Kebun Nilam, Blang Seunong, Pulau Masjid I and II, Blang Malo, Ulee Gunong, Tanjong Bungong and Pulau Kawa.

Five units of heavy equipment were sent by the provincial administration to help clear the road into the flood-hit location, which is about 170 kilometers from Banda Aceh.

The team is expected to clear the wood, rocks and mud from the roads some time today.

Last March, another flash flood hit Tangse, killing 11 people. The flood-hit area sits inside a river basin.

Additional reporting from Antara
Jakarta Globe