Kudus, C Java (ANTARA) - The Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD)-Kudus Office warned residents against conducting outdoor activities in flood-hit areas to prevent more fatalities, as the death toll from the ongoing flash flood had reached seven.
The causes of fatalities that occurred since the flash flood hit 23 villages in Kudus on March 14, 2024, ranged from drowning to electric shocks, the agency's head, Mundir, remarked.
Speaking in Kudus District, Central Java Province, on Tuesday, he noted that three of the seven dead residents drowned after their wooden boat capsized in a flood-hit area of Kirig Village, Mejobo Sub-district.
Another resident, who got displaced by the flash floods, also drowned while returning to his home to check his duck cages on Sunday (March 17). His body could have been found on Monday (March 18).
The displaced resident was reported to leave his temporary shelter to return home in the flood-hit village of Pasuruhan Lor, Jati Sub-district, to check his duck cages on Sunday (March 17), Mundir remarked.
To prevent more fatalities, Mundir appealed to the displaced villagers seeking refuge to continue to stay at their temporary shelters. Moreover, parents are urged to take good care of their kids in this catastrophic time.
Over the past three months since December 2023, several regions in Indonesia have experienced flash floods.
In Riau Province, for instance, Pelalawan District experienced a 20-year cycle of big floods from December 2023 to January 2024.
The Riau Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) reported that Riau's flooding affected 131,834 residents and inundated 32,303 houses in six districts in the province.
The agency recorded 870 residents being displaced in Pelalawan District, 572 in Rokan Hilir District, 424 in Indragiri Hulu District, 88 in Dumai City, 72 in Bengkalis District, and 40 in Siak District.
On Sunday, March 17, 2024, the embankment of Wulan River in Ketanjung Village, Karanganyar Sub-district, Demak District, Central Java, was breached again. It then triggered a flash flood that inundated several areas.
In the second week of February 2024, the Wulan River embankment got breached.
As a result, residents in the sub-districts of Karanganyar, Karangawen, Kebonagung, Wonosalam, Karangtengah, Gajah, and Dempet of Demak District had experienced flash floods.
The leaked embankment of Wulan River partly caused the flooding, inundating at least four thousand houses and disrupting access to the main road connecting the districts of Demak and Kudus.
Authorities revealed that the rain caused two leakages in the embankment, each spanning 20 meters and 30 meters. On February 14, the government managed to plug the leaks.
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Translator: Akhmad N, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Azis Kurmala
