Floods and Landslides in Indonesia

[Gert van der Hoek]

Floods and landslides are "normal" in Indonesia in the rainy season.

This season it seems more serious. Reports from all parts of Indonesia on floods and landslides. Reports coming in almost every day, at least a month now.

For example:

Hundreds of houses destroyed in West Sumatra floods

PADANG (Antara): Some 276 houses were destroyed by floods that hit West Sumatra on Tuesday, Antara reported Thursday.

The floodwaters, which reached a height of 2.5 meters,demolished houses in Padang, Agam regency and six other regencies on the south coast of the province.

One person is reportedly missing. (***)

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailgeneral.asp?fileid=20071227150456&irec=18


Rescuers pull victims from Indonesian landslides

LEDOKSARI, Central Java (AP): Rescuers used bare hands and shovels Friday to pry muddy corpses from Indonesian villages devastated by landslides, as flooding blocked heavy equipment from reaching a disaster zone where at least 87 people were killed or feared dead.

Tens of thousands of villagers have been forced from their homes, after torrential rain sent hillsides crashing into central districts of Java island Wednesday and caused swollen rivers to break their banks.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailgeneral.asp?fileid=20071228142128&irec=13

78 Indonesians feared dead after torrential rains

JAKARTA (AP): Days of torrential rain triggered landslides that killed up to 78 people in western Indonesia on Wednesday - many as they took part in a late-night dinner celebrating the cleanup of a mud-covered home, a rescue official said.

Hundreds of soldiers, police and volunteers were trying to get heavy-lifting equipment to affected villages on the main island of Java, said search and rescue chief Eko Prayitno, but blocked roads were hampering their efforts.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailgeneral.asp?fileid=20071226215340&irec=22

December 29, 2007

Floods grow worse, search intensified

Flooding in Surakarta in Central Java and its surrounding areas worsened due to heavy rain Friday as rescuers intensified efforts to search for people still believed to be buried by Wednesday's landslide in Tawangmangu in the adjacent city of Karanganyar.

As flooding continued to widen it submerged thousands of houses, raising the number of evacuees from about 26,000 in Surakarta alone to about 31,818 on Friday afternoon.

Thousands of people are living in makeshift tents and a number of public buildings, including Solo City Hall and Manahan Sports Stadium, mosques and other buildings unaffected by the flooding, which is up to three meters deep in some areas.

Purnomo Subagyo, a spokesman for the Solo city administration, said flooding had submerged six subdistricts in Jebres district, four subdistricts in Pasar Kliwon district and one subdistrict in Serengan district.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailweekly.asp?fileid=20071229.@02

 

[sharon sanders]

Re: Floods and Landslides in Indonesia

Thank you Dutchy.

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Floods and Landslides in Indonesia

Amost every day reports on floods and landslides, including recently in Jakarta and Tangerang. But also other regions in Java, Borneo, Sumatra, Sulawesi.

Floods and landslides kill 12 people across Indonesia


February 01, 2008

Floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains have killed at least 12 people across Indonesia and caused the brief closure of the capital's main airport.

Scores of cars were stranded and people had to wade through murky knee-high water in many parts of Jakarta, a city of 14 million that is regularly hit by floods at this time of year.

Jakarta's main airport had been forced to close on Monday morning, after rain and fog slashed visibility to less than 300 metres, Hariyanto, an official at Soekarno Hatta airport, said.

More than 40 flights had been delayed, with some planes diverted to Jakarta's smaller Halim airport, while several flights coming to the capital were forced to return to Singapore.

"The airport has reopened since three o'clock (1900 AEDT) '', Hariyanto, who uses only one name, said later by telephone.
More than 40 flights were delayed due to low visibility while Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was forced to abandon his bullet-proof presidential car after his motorcade tried to pass through knee-high flood waters in the capital.

The president's security escort had to usher Yudhoyono into a sport utility vehicle after his Mercedes Benz got stuck on a main road about 2 km from the presidential palace.

Last year about 50 people died in Jakarta, many due to electrocution, and more than 400,000 people were displaced after days of heavy rain.

After the 2007 floods, the then governor of Jakarta said the city administration needed more help from the central government to deal with the annual hazard.peThere were no reports of deaths in Jakarta today after flood waters rose to 20-50 cm, but a health ministry official said four people were killed and thousands displaced from their homes after heavy rains in parts of Java and Sulawesi islands.

More than 10,000 houses in East Java's Pasuruan region were inundated by floods, forcing people to erect tents on streets, Rustam Pakaya, head of the health ministry's crisis centre, said.

In the Singkil district of Aceh, a province on the tip of Sumatra island, eight people died after a landslide buried two houses, Pakaya said.

During Indonesia's rainy season deadly landslides often occur as tropical downpours can quickly soak hillsides stripped of trees with little vegetation to hold the soil.

A weather agency official said the rains were likely to continue until tomorrow.

http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,23146134-948,00.html

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Floods and Landslides in Indonesia

Landslide, floods kill 11 in Indonesia

Posted : Wed, 10 Sep 2008

Jakarta - At least 11 people were killed in a landslide and floods that swept through villages in two Indonesian provinces, local media reports said Wednesday. In South Kalimantan province on the Indonesian portion of Borneo island, heavy floods have inundated thousands of homes in a number of districts for the past three weeks and claimed the lives of at least seven people, the state-run Antara news agency reported.

Meanwhile, a landslide triggered by incessant rains buried alive at least four people and injured two others in Nusaniwe sub-district of Ambon, the capital of the eastern Indonesian province of Maluku, on Wednesday.

The landslide also seriously damaged 18 homes, cutting off roads and isolating Eri village.

Landslides and heavy floods are frequent in Indonesia, where tropical downpours can quickly soak hillsides deforested. Environmentalists have warned that logging and a failure to reforest denuded land is to blame.

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/230757,landslide-floods-kill-11-in-indonesia.html

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Floods and Landslides in Indonesia

When the rains come, reports on floods - " banjir " - from all over Indonesia.

This report is one of many:

Floods cause 10 billion rupiahs economic loss in Indonesia's Gorontalo city


www.chinaview.cn 2008-09-08

JAKARTA, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Floods have caused an estimated 10billion rupiahs (1.08 million U.S. dollars) in material losses after hiting Gorontoalo city on northern Sulawesi island of Indonesia, Antara News agency said on Monday.

"The figure was not final as local authorities were still evaluating further," the national news agency quoted head of the Gorontalo public works agency Henristi Saleh as saying.

The provisional estimation covered only damages in irrigation infrastructures and roads. "The material losses do not yet includedamages of houses and office buildings," he said.

Gorontalo city is prone to flash floods coming from neighboring towns. Flood waters reaching a height of up to 1.5 meter inundateda number of areas in Gorontalo province, such as in Limba B, Biwau,Biawao, Donggala, Limba U2, Moodu, Heledulaa Utara, Heledulaa Selatan, Ipilo, Bugis, Tenilo, Dembe Jaya II, Dembe Jaya, and Wongkaditi Timur, last Friday.

The flooding forced a total of 17,352 people to flee to higher grounds in Gorotalo city and Bone Bolango District in Gorontalo Province in northern Sulawesi Island.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-09/08/content_9853970.htm

 

[Commonground]

Re: Floods and Landslides in Indonesia

Medical help was sent to Flood casualties in Central Kalimantan
10 September 2008

the government of the Central Kalimantan Province said began to send medical help for flood casualties in various local areas, especially for prevented spread him the illness post flood. ?Assistance of the medicine and additional food were among them distributed by us for the resident of flood casualties in Kasongan, Kabupaten Katingan. The help request from the other area still has not masuk,? the Service headword of Kesehatan Central Kalimantan, Dr Don Leiden, in Palangka Raya, on Tuesday [09/09]. Don claimed to be his side sent the stock medicine of help of the reserve to deal with flood casualties who currently it was reported strike four regencies in Central Kalimantan, that is Katingan, Ko- Tim, Ko- Bar, and Lamandau. According to him, his side sent help of the medicine to overcome the common illness emerged during the flood like diarrhoea medicine, the cough, flu, the upper respiratory inspection, and the skin illness.
-snip-
http://beritasore.com/2008/09/10/bantuan-medis-korban-banjir-di-kalteng-dikirim/

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Floods and Landslides in Indonesia

Link leads to dozens of video's on recent floods, all over Indonesia:

http://www.metrotvnews.com/cari.asp?t=a&page=1&query=banjir

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Floods and Landslides in Indonesia

Usual floods in Indonesia

Indonesia: Flooding in 13 provinces

Saturday, January 17th, 2009 @ 07:12 UTC

Thirteen Indonesian provinces experienced flooding the past week due to torrential rains. The disaster has claimed the lives of 14 people while three others are still missing. More than 50,000 people have to be evacuated. Jakarta, Indonesia?s capital, is under up to two meters of water.

(Other reports say: 30 to 50 cm's ,ed)

Thirteen Indonesian provinces experienced flooding the past week due to torrential rains. The disaster has claimed the lives of 14 people while three others are still missing. The floods hit several districts in West Nusa Tenggara, Sumatra, Java, Bali, Borneo and Sulawesi provinces. More than 50,000 people have to be evacuated.

Jakarta, Indonesia?s capital, is under up to two meters of water. Forty percent of the city is under the surface of sea water. Bali, a popular tourist destination, is also flooded.


Java Jive writes about the flooding in Jakarta:

?While December was quite sunny and pleasant, the New Year has brought angry torrential downpours, massive cracks of frequent lightening, and of course, annual flooding.

?As I write this post, I?m overlooking a wide canal fully loaded with rainwater and debris. The sky is clouding up, and opening like a wound, while menacing storms are once again forecast for the remainder of this week. One solid night of rain and we won?t be able to get out of Kelapa Gading since the road that leads to the toll is amongst the lowest and quickest to flood.

?Am I nervous? Not at all.

?But I am nervous for those families who cannot get out. For those with small children who cannot get clean drinking water or medical attention. For those who have risked (or not trusted) not having insurance on their homes, businesses, and cars. And for those who may lose everything yet again.?

Mywebsiteku expects flooding to continue until next month:

?Peak of the rainy season is in progress at this time is estimated to occur in February 2009. This is a potential trigger the occurrence of disasters such as soil movement (landslides), flood, wind and waterspout. This is seen from the growth of cloud in Jakarta and surrounding areas of improvement so that the intensity of rainfall affect. therefore need to alert the public on the weather conditions at this time.?

Via Twitter, reports about the flooding:

irwanlee: The sky is gloomy, the Dengue Fever and Flood are back in town.

lusy_sunsetgirl: Both the government & the people are causing the yearly flood in the capital,in my honest opinion.

nanashambles: Rain sucks. Flood everywhere. Chaotic station

storymasterq: The cold front continues. Jakarta's Great Flood usually comes every 5 years to the day, but the next one isn't due until 2012. Apocalypse?

Flooding is frequent in Indonesia. Riau posts pictures taken in Kampar, Indonesia which was flooded a few weeks ago:

http://globalvoicesonline.org/2009/01/17/indonesia-flooding-in-13-provinces/

Some video?s jan 17 on the floods:

http://www.metrotvnews.com/main.php?metro=welcome&m=index&act=cari

 

[mixin]

Re: Floods and Landslides in Indonesia

storymasterq: The cold front continues. Jakarta's Great Flood usually comes every 5 years to the day, but the next one isn't due until 2012. Apocalypse?

Interesting this poster mentions 2012. This year is popping up in many different places on the net; I thought it was just an American topic of interest.