Jakarta/Kupang – Floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains have claimed lives in three provinces, including the resort islands of Bali and Lombok.
Six people have been killed in floods and landslides in two regencies in West Nusa Tenggara, Antara reported. Three died in a landslide in Sembalun district, two in flooding in Sambelia district and another in floods in the district of Sumbawa.
Thousands of people trapped in their homes on Sunday by flooding in Sambelia district, East Lombok regency, were able to reach safer ground Monday.
District head Lalu Ahmad Zulkifli told Antara late Monday the flood victims had been evacuated by search and rescue teams. "Hundreds of the victims were evacuated three days after a rush of mud, trees and stones destroyed two bridges in the area," he said.
He said 3,455 flood victims from two villages in the district had been moved to safer ground. "That number does not include 300 to 600 more people who were being rescued late Monday," Lalu said.
Flooding in the district also damaged the police school in Belanting, forcing 78 police officers to evacuate the school. Various firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition were rescued from the floodwaters.
"The school building and the dormitory were badly damaged, causing an estimated Rp 8 billion in damages," a spokesman for the West Nusa Tenggara Police, Tribudi Pangastuti, told Antara.
Coordinating Minister for Public Welfare Aburizal Bakrie and Social Services Minister Bachtiar Chamsyah are scheduled to visit flood victims sheltering in the Sambelia district office Tuesday.
In East Nusa Tenggara, all seven of the regencies in the province have been affected by storms, landslides and floods since earlier this month, with at least 12 deaths.
Governor Piet A. Tallo assigned officials on Monday to assist victims, including in Sikka, where heavy rains and strong winds brought down a statue of the Virgin Mary on Saturday.
A landslide swept over a busy road in Ranaka village in Ruteng regency Sunday, burying 10 motorcycles, a bus and two public minivans. Five people were killed and dozens of others are still missing.
Ruteng Regent Christian Rotok said Monday a search and rescue team was trying to locate missing victims. "The landslide, stretching over 100 meters, has completely cut off traffic," he said.
Floods have also inundated Belu regency, with waters reaching up to 1.5-meter high, affecting over 3,600 families in the regency's three districts and over 3,000 hectares of rice and corn fields.
Donations have begun to arrive for victims, including in Bali's Buleleng regency, some 80 kilometers north of the provincial capital Denpasar, where a landslide killed two people.
In the East Java town of Probolinggo, floodwaters began subsiding Monday, but residents in the flood-hit districts of Pakuniran, Besuki and Wangkal are wary of more flooding because of continued rainfall.