FLOODS HIT NINE VILLAGES IN MOROWALI

Palu, March 22 (ANTARA) - Floods hit nine villages in Petasi sub district, Morowali district, Central Sulawesi Province, on Sunday.

"The disaster, however, did not claim lives nor was anybody injured," Dariyos Kaope, secretary to the Petasia sub district, said here on Monday.

Incessant heavy rains which had fallen on the sub district over the past few days, had caused the Lau River to overflow and the excess water inundated hundreds of houses in the nine villages.

Elementary school students were given days off as their school at Togo village was flooded.

"The activities at Togo Elementary School have been halted due to the flood," he said.

In addition to Togo, eight other villages were flooded, namely Tras Togo Mulya, Maliono, Sampolowo, Onepute, Koromatantu, Mandowe, Bunta, and Tompira.

The villages are located along the Lau river bank, and therefore they are prone to floods when the river overflows.

Local authorities have set up emergency tents at Bunta village to accommodate the flood victims.

The flood victims were in bad need of food, he said.

The floodwaters reached a height of up to one meter.

Last Sunday (March 21), floods caused by the overflowing of the Citarum river over the past four days, also inundated more than 5,000 homes in Karawang district, West Java.