Jakarta: Floods have hit 13 regions in East Java Province since Wednesday, following incessant heavy rains that triggered several rivers to spill over their banks.
"Based on reports from the disaster response command posts and the East Java Disaster Mitigation office, 13 regions have been flooded," Harry Hikmat, director general of Social Insurance and Protection of the Social Affairs Ministry, remarked while being contacted by Antara on Thursday.
The 13 flood-affected regions are Madiun, Nganjuk, Ngawi, Magetan, Sidoarjo, Kediri, Bojonegoro, Tuban, Gresik, Pacitan, Trenggalek, Ponorogo, and Lamongan.
Another region, Probolinggo, was hit by whirlwind and heavy rains that damaged roofs of 45 homes in Tambak Rejo Village.
In Madiun, 39 villages in eight districts were inundated, as the Jeroan River overflowed.
Flooding affected 4,317 households, comprising over 17 thousand people; seriously damaged two homes, three dykes, and two bridges; submerged 253 hectares of rice fields; and swept away tens of cattle, goats, and poultry.
In Nganjuk, floods, triggered by the overflowing of Kuncir River, submerged residential areas in 15 villages located in six districts.
In Ngawi, floodwaters, reaching a height of up to a meter, submerged 4,490 homes in 18 villages located in six districts.
A total of 14 villages in five sub-districts in Trenggalek District also got flooded, as the Ngasinan River spilled over its bank.
Meanwhile, East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa boarded a rubber boat to visit Balerejo district in Madiun on Thursday to review the handling of flooding there.
Madiun Regent Ahmad Dawami has declared an emergency status for the period from March 6 to March 19, 2019, following flooding since Tuesday.
The letter, declaring the emergency status, was signed by the Madiun regent on Wednesday.
"Everyone concentrates on flood victims. The regency administration has established disaster command posts in every flood-affected sub-district. Community health centers are also on standby," Dawami stated here, Thursday.
The floodwaters have subsided significantly on Thursday morning.
Indonesia is blessed with fertile soil and various natural resources, but concurrently, the country is prone to natural disasters, as it is located in the Pacific Ring of Fire, where numerous volcanoes and earthquakes occur.
During the period from January to mid-December last year, a total of 2,572 natural disasters had hit the country, leaving at least 4,821 people dead or missing, according to the government data.
Of the total, 96.9 percent of the natural disasters, were hydrometeorological in nature, such as floods, landslides, and whirlwind, while 76, or 3.1 percent, were geological disasters, such as earthquakes. (Antara)
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