At least 475 houses submerged by flooding in Indonesian island province

At least 475 houses submerged by flooding in Indonesian island province

2011-02-24 01:29:22 GMT+7 (ICT)

BALI, INDONESIA (BNO NEWS) -- At least 475 houses on Wednesday were submerged due to the severe flooding that hit the Indonesian Island province of Bali, the Antara news agency reported,

Three villages, Tinga-Tinga, Celukan Bawang, and Pengulon, were struck by heavy rains in Bali from Tuesday evening to Wednesday morning. The villages are located in Buleleng district.

In Pengulon, 108 houses were submerged by flooding and residents were taken to the village head's office for refugee. A 1.5 meter-high flood water covered 47 houses in Tinga-Tinga village.

In addition, a school collapsed after being carried by the flood water currents, as informed by Nyoman Astasemadi, Head of Buleleng district's disaster management division.

However, the Celukan Bawang village was the most affected as 320 houses were inundated and one house was buried due to a landslide. The extreme weather was caused by the high density of rainfalls in Gerokgak subdistrict's areas.

The flooding also destroyed a 10-meter-long bridge and disrupted transportation between Pengulon and Patas villages. The extreme weather conditions in the region are expected to last until April 2011.

"We cannot yet calculate the precise amount of material losses that locals have suffered in this natural disaster," added Astasemadi.

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