Jakarta (VNA) - Rescuers have recovered the bodies of 15 people who have died in flash flooding in two Indonesian provinces, while authorities said 10 others were missing.
On September 10, rescuers discovered the bodies of a mother and child buried under mud in Mauponggo village, the hardest-hit area in Nagekeo district, East Nusa Tenggara. In the neighbouring village of Loka Laba, one male victim was also found dead. Earlier, three members of a family were washed away when their house collapsed, and four others remained missing in Mauponggo.
In Bali, the situation is also severe. Authorities recovered the body of a woman near Badung market in the capital, Denpasar. Six more people are still unaccounted for. Earlier, eight bodies were found, including four people swept away along with a building in the Kumbasari market area of South Denpasar.
Floodwaters breaching riverbanks swept away cars, submerged homes and marketplaces. Images from the National Search and Rescue Agency showed cars floating in murky water while soldiers and rescue workers in rubber boats evacuated children and elderly people trapped on rooftops.
Bali’s disaster management agency said floods have ravaged nine cities and regencies on the island, inundating at least 112 neighborhoods, triggering multiple landslides, damaging roads, bridges, and destroying 15 shops and residences. More than 800 people have been urgently evacuated to temporary shelters, with floodwaters reaching up to 2.5 meters in some areas.
Governor of Bali Wayan Koster warned that this disaster has claimed lives and is causing huge damage to livelihoods, to traders, and to tourism, the economic lifeline of the island. Authorities have cut off electricity and water over wide areas, forcing many hotels, restaurants, hospitals and public facilities to run on generators.
In East Nusa Tenggara, flash floods in Nagekeo swept away entire villages, blocked three major roads, killing at least six people and leaving four missing. Two bridges, two government offices, crop fields, farms and livestock herds were destroyed.
Heavy seasonal rains, which usually occur from September through March, regularly cause flooding and landslides in Indonesia. This year’s extreme events again highlight how vulnerable many communities are to natural disasters./.
