Four missing in floods, landslides in West Java as Indonesia braces for extreme bad weather

Four people were reported missing, with one of them feared dead, as floods and landslides damaged houses and a bridge in Indonesia’s western province of West Java on Saturday (Oct 3) evening, according to disaster agency officials.

Heavy downpours has caused a river to overflow, engulfing houses in the surrounding areas in the Cianjur district, said Kuswara Retana, a senior official of the local disaster management agency.

“A man has drowned at a reservoir and confirmed dead, but his body is still missing. Three others were also reported missing after being swept away by the strong current,” he told Xinhua.

The flooding caused damages to some 10 houses and a bridge, forcing the residents to flee home and take shelters in a mosque and the neighbors’ two-story houses, Retana said.

Foods, clothes and other humanitarian aids were badly needed there, he added.

Seni Wulandari, an official from the provincial search and rescue office, said rescue workers were heading to the scene to search for victims and provide help for the affected people.

Heavy rains have also triggered landslides in three spots in the province, impacting the access to the affected areas and causing difficulties to disaster agency workers, Budi Budiman, head of the emergency unit of the provincial disaster management agency, told Xinhua.

The Indonesian weather agency has warned of intensive rains in the months ahead.

Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) on Saturday (Oct 4) warned of extreme weather that can happen due to the rainy season and the La Nina phenomenon.

The agency’s deputy for climatology Herizal said like the rainy season, the La Nina phenomenon in indonesia causes an accumulation of rainfalls up to 40 percent above the normal condition.

“The rainy season as well as the La Nina have potentials to trigger hydro-meteorological disasters such as floods and landslides,” said Herizal.

BMKG predicts that La Nina will continue to develop until the end of 2020.

La Nina begins to drop during the January-February period and will end around the March-April period 2021.

Courtesy of thestar.com.my

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