The Jakarta Globe, December 10, 2012
Nearly 9,000 homes have now been inundated as flooding that began a week ago in Central Kalimantan’s North Barito district continues unabated.
Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), said on Sunday that 8,872 homes in the district were reported to have been affected by the flooding.
“The flooding there that began on December 3 is still continuing to spread,” he said. “Six of the nine subdistricts in North Barito are now inundated in around two meters of floodwater. In some places the water is as deep as four meters.”
He added that the problem was so severe that in some areas of the district, the water level was reported to be rising by as much as 30 centimeters a day.
In addition to the houses, the flood has also affected 11 schools, six community health centers, five mosques, a church and a Hindu temple.
The flooding, caused by the rain-swollen Barito River bursting its banks, has also swamped 2,700 hectares of rice paddies and thousands more hectares of other crops, as well as washed out 25 bridges and flooded 10 kilometers of roads.
District authorities declared a state of emergency there on Saturday, while disaster relief officials have set up temporary shelters and soup kitchens to cater to those forced to flee their homes.
Sutopo said relief supplies were being distributed by the district and provincial administrations.
He previously warned that rain-related disasters across the country were expected to continue until January. The BNPB noted that mudslides and floods in the past two months have killed at least 33 people and forced 35,000 to flee their homes.
ma 10 dec 2012 - 18:32