FLOOD INUNDATES INDRAMAYU

Indramayu, West Java Province, Feb. 1 (ANTARA) - A flood triggered by incessant heavy rains since Sunday inundated urban areas of Indramayu district on Sunday evening and up to Monday.

Traffic was affected by the flood which submerged a number of main roads, said Danesih, a teacher of Singaraja elementary school, here on Monday.

Heavy rain and strong wind hit Indramayu district on Sunday at around 10 pm, and uprooted a banyan tree at the elementary school, he said. Several class rooms were also submerged under the floodwater.

"Floodwater submerged the Singaraja elementary school at a height of up to 70 centimeters. As the consequence, students had to help clean up their class rooms," he said.

A number of students arrived late at the school as their homes, especially those located near the bank of Cimanuk River, were also inundated.

People settlements around Indramayu's square, Margalaksana, Margadadi and Paoman areas were also flooded.

Indonesia is now in rainy season which has triggered floods in several areas, such as Jakarta, Jambi (Sumatra), Pandeglang (Banten Province), Bandung, and Kerawang (West Java), South Sumatra Province, South Sulawesi, Kolaka (Southeast Sulawesi), and Kudus and Banyumas (Central Java).

In Kolaka, South East Sulawesi Province, the death toll in last Friday's floods that swept through Batu Ganda village in North Kolaka district, rose to 10 after a 2-year-old child was found dead last week .

Data from the Kolaka search and rescue (SAR) post show 26 houses were carried away by the strong water current, 45 houses heavily damaged and seven others were lightly.

Last January, flash floods swept through two villages in Banyumas district, Central Java, inundating at least 21 houses.

"The 21 flooded houses are located at Besuki village. I don't know how many houses at Lumbir village were flooded," Lumbir subdistrict head Alex T Manurung said recently.

The flash floods were caused by the overflowing of Lopasir river and Ciaur river, he said.