Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Volunteer Society (MRI) and Aksi Cepat Tanggap (ACT) assisted in handling floods that hit several locations in Kotabaru District, South Kalimantan, Saturday (8/6) morning.
ACT South Kalimantan through the Masyarakat Relawan Indonesia or Indonesian Volunteer Society (MRI) Kotabaru has moved to distribute lunch packages for affected residents as well as volunteers on duty.
The lunch package was an aid from the Indonesian New Direction Movement Organization (GARBI) which was channeled through South Kalimantan ACT.
"God willing, the distribution of ready-to-eat food will also be done tonight," said MRI Kotabaru volunteer Wahyu Setiyaji who helped distribute ready-to-eat food for flood-affected residents.
Based on the South Kalimantan MRI-ACT volunteer report, flooding occurred due to high intensity rain from Saturday (6/8) at 4:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
"Floods have caused puddles in five villages in Kotabaru District, namely Baharu Village, Teluk Gosong Village, Stagen Village, Gunung Sari Village, and Sungup Kanan Village," reported the Head of MRI Kotabaru Hamas Al Qasam.
Hamas also explained that high rainfall caused the Embung (retention basin) of Tirawan collapsed. As a result, water supply in several areas in Kotabaru has been disrupted in the next few days.
From Saturday afternoon to Sunday, the MRI-ACT in Kotabaru and the joint team of SAR conducted emergency response actions by draining water in several flooded homes. They also cleared landslides which cut off road access in Teluk Gosong Village, and carried out the evacuation process of houses affected by landslides.
"Today the team is divided into several locations. Some are cleaning culverts in Gunung Sari Village and some are cleaning up landslides in Sungai Taib Village which are potentially dangerous because it hit the house," Hamas said.
Besides Kotabaru, floods have inundated a number of areas in South Kalimantan. According to the monitoring of MRI-ACT volunteers, several areas in Tanah Bumbu District were also affected by flooding.
"The village of Dukuhrejo, Mantewe Subdistrict are in floods. At present village officials are making shelter, while in the Emil Baru Village landslides occur," reported MRI volunteer Nur Afik Bagustiana.
In addition to the two villages, flooding also occurred in Sungai Rukam Village, Kusan Hulu Sub-district. Head of South Kalimantan Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) Wahyuddin explained, his party was still collecting data related to affected victims in the Tanah Bumbu.
"The data that has been entered into us is 39 houses were inundated with 125 affected people," he said.
