FLOODS SUBMERGE TOWNS IN JAVA AND SUMATRA

Jakarta, Feb 6 (ANTARA) - Floods inundated some towns in Indonesia's islands of Java and Sumatra on Friday, causing thousands of people to go to safer places.

In the West Java town of Garut, for instance, the 40-to-100-centimeter-deep floods submerged some 254 houses and destroyed a shop.

Amid the natural disaster, Nining, 50, was beaten by a poisonous snake, some local residents said.

Head of Garut Kota suburb Nurdin Yana said the floods submerged Regol, Ciwalen, and Kota Wetan villages.

The floods were caused by the rise of Cigulampeng River's water level after torrential rain showered Garut for more than an hour.

The rubbish polluting the river worsened the situation, he said, adding that the floods might have displaced thousands of people.

To help the needy, local government would have distributed staple food, Head of Garut suburb's social welfare, workforce and transmigration office, Elka Nurhakimah said.

A total of 34 houses at Banaran village and seven others at Pacinan village, Balerejo subdistrict, Madiun district, East Java, were also flooded on Friday after the Moneng river overflowed.

Meanwhile, in Koto Panjang Minturun areas of Koto Tangah suburb, West Sumatran capital city of Padang, floods inundated 200 houses.

The one meter-deep floods were triggered by torrential rains showering Koto Tangah suburb for two and half hours, residents said.

According to Coordinator of West Sumatran Province's Disaster Recovery Division Ade Edwar, the people whose houses were submerged had been evacuated to safer places.

There were no fatalities but the floods had cut off roads linking Koto Panjang Minturun to its neighboring areas. Some cars were stuck on the flooded roads, he said.

"The floods also submerged tens of hectares of fields," Edwar said.

Some displaced people had returned home after the depth of the flood waters gradually got reduced. Despite this, he asked them not to go out at night for the sake of their safety.

"As a result of the September 30, 2009 earthquake, some roads of Padang city are damaged and vulnerable to landslides," he said.

The torrential rains also showered Bogor city. Following the rain and strong wind, landslides occurred in the South, West and East Bogor suburbs.

As a result, nine houses were seriously damaged but there were no fatalities, a West Bogor sub-district government official said.

"One of the houses was completely destroyed," Abdul Muid said.

The landslides might have been caused by the soil's inability to absorb water as a result of erosion due to densely-populated areas, he said.

The Indonesian archipelago is vulnerable to various natural disasters, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, flooding, and landslides.