Tens of houses flooded due to heavy rains in Indonesia's West Sumatra

[News_Editor]

Tens of houses flooded due to heavy rains in Indonesia's West Sumatra

2011-03-01 02:11:14 GMT+7 (ICT)

WEST SUMATRA, INDONESIA (BNO NEWS) -- Indonesian authorities on Monday informed that tens of houses were flooded due to heavy rains during the weekend in Agam District in West Sumatra, the Antara news agency reported.

"Incessant heavy rains which have fallen since Saturday until early Monday have caused the flood inundating tens of houses in Pasa Durian Manggopoh, Lubung Basung sub district," said Is Faimal, a local official.

In addition, the Batang Antokan River located in Pasa Durian began to overflow on Sunday noon and continued on Monday. The floodwaters reached a height of 50 centimeters.

As tens of houses were inundated, the village residents were forced to evacuate to nearby schools and mosques. Pasa Durian has a population of approximately 80 families.

In the northern Sumatra Island of Aceh Darussalam Province, seven villages have been affected by flash floods triggered by heavy rains that have struck the region since Friday.

Classes were suspended as schools were closed due to flooding. The seven villages affected were Gampong Baro, Paya Baro, Pasie Delima, Pasie Timoe, Tepie Ara, Pasti Tolak Bala, and Gampong Paya.

Last week, at least 475 houses were submerged due to the severe flooding that hit the Indonesian Island province of Bali. Tinga-Tinga, Celukan Bawang, and Pengulon villages were truck by heavy rains that began on Tuesday and ended on Wednesday.

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.

The Celukan Bawang village was the most affected as 320 houses were inundated and one house was buried due to a landslide. 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. Also on Wednesday, a strong 5.8-magnitude earthquake struck off the western coast of Sumatra; no fatal victims were reported.

On October 25, a powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck just off the Mentawai Islands off the western coast of Sumatra. As a result, a wall of water killed at least 435 people on the islands and impacted more than 20 villages.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-03-01

[joe84330]

tens of houses?