Floods forced 2,436 residents of six sub-districts in East Aceh District, Aceh Province, to evacuate themselves to safer places, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).
BNPB’s spokesman Abdul Muhari in a statement on Sunday, said that most of the flood victims took refuge in village centers, meunasah (buildings for religious rituals), mosques, and dayah (traditional Islamic schools).
The flood-affected six sub-districts in East Aceh were Pante Bidari, Punaron, Birem Bayeun, Indra Makmur, Nurussalam, and Banda Alam .
“So far, 1,276 families or as many as 4,764 people have been affected, and 1,276 houses were flooded. This information was reported by the BNPB Operations Control Center based on data from the East Aceh District Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD),” Muhari said.
According to him, several areas were still inundated with waters reaching a height of up to 150 centimeters, he said.
East Aceh BPBD has coordinated with various parties to accelerate the emergency response. In addition, joint officers also remain on standby to monitor several areas that are still experiencing an increase in water discharge.
Based on the weather forecast of the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) for the next three days, there is still potential for rain with light to moderate intensity in the East Aceh region on Monday (October 10). To this end, BNPB appealed to the residents to increase vigilance and preparedness.
Residents are expected to check the water discharge periodically when heavy rainfall occurs for a long period of time. Residents can also evacuate themselves to a safer place to avoid potential hydro-meteorological disasters.
On Friday , a landslide and floods hit several villages in East Aceh that resulted in road sections being covered in landslide materials and six power poles damaged.
“Moderate to heavy rains had caused floods, with waters reaching a height of between 50-150 cm and a landslide in East Aceh,” Acting Chief of Aceh Disaster Mitigation Office (BPBA) Ilyas said in Banda Aceh, Aceh, on Saturday.
Source: Antara News