Deadly landslides, flash floods hit Indonesia’s Java island

Landslides, flash floods and strong winds devastated 172 villages and forced more than 3,000 people to flee [Rangga Firmansyah/AP Photo]

JAVA (Indonesia), December 10 — Indonesian rescuers have recovered 10 bodies that were swept away in flash floods that hit hilly villages on the country’s main island of Java, officials said, adding that two people were still missing.

Torrential rains since last week caused rivers to burst their banks, tearing through more than 170 villages in the Sukabumi district of West Java province, as mud, rocks and trees tumbled down mountainside hamlets, Lieutenant Colonel Yudi Hariyanto, who heads a rescue command post in Sukabumi, said on Monday.

Landslides, flash floods and strong winds devastated 172 villages and forced more than 3,000 people to flee to temporary government shelters, Hariyanto said. Authorities have warned nearly 1,000 people to evacuate as more than 400 houses are threatened by extreme weather.

The disasters also destroyed 31 bridges, 81 roads and 539 hectares (1,332 acres) of rice fields, while 1,170 houses were flooded up to the roof.

Extreme weather has also damaged more than 3,300 other houses and buildings, the local disaster management agency said.

On Monday, rescue workers pulled out 10 bodies in the worst-hit villages of Tegalbuleud, Simpenan and Ciemas, including three children, and rescuers are searching for two villagers who are reportedly still missing, Hariyanto said.

Videos circulating on social media showed flash floods caused by heavy downpours in Sukabumi sweeping away almost everything in their path, including cars, motorcycles, buffaloes and cows.

Footage released by West Java’s Search and Rescue Agency showed roads that were transformed into murky brown rivers and villages covered by thick mud, rocks and uprooted trees as soldiers, police and rescue workers pulled mud-caked bodies from a devastated hamlet.

The archipelago of 17,000 islands is bracing for severe weather, as state meteorologists have detected three tropical cyclone systems that could bring heavy rainfall to various regions.

Extreme weather is expected to affect areas in western and eastern Indonesia over the next few days, causing significant rainfall and high waves.

Last month, flash floods and landslides in North Sumatra province killed at least 29 people. Flash floods hit the provincial city of Medan, forcing a delay in votes for regional elections in some areas.