Flood Inundate Hundreds of House in Bojonegoro

Bojonegoro, (Antara) - Hundreds of houses in the villages of Lebaksari and Kalisari, Baureno Sub-district, Bojonegoro District, East Java Province, were flooded, as the Bengawan Solo River overflowed its banks on Saturday.

Floodwaters, reaching a height of up to 30 centimeters, inundated more than 200 houses and several roads in the two villages, Kholil of the Baureno social affairs office, stated.

"The floods also affected the rice fields, but the crops were not damaged," he said.

Meanwhile, earlier this week, floods had hit the villages of Pekalangan and Lojajar in Tenggarang Sub-district, Bondowoso District, also in East Java Province.

The floods inundated residential areas and two schools, one of which was seriously damaged, Kukuj Triatmoko of the Bondowoso disaster mitigation office had noted last Wednesday.

"Farming areas in the two villages were also flooded, but the floodwaters receded later. Only parts of the paddy fields were affected," he remarked, adding that his office had collected data on the impacts of flooding.

The local administration will improve the irrigation system to mitigate flooding, he stated.

Meanwhile, Indonesia is expecting the rainy season to peak in February 2017, especially in Jakarta and its suburban areas, according to the Meteorological, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency.

The agency has urged people living in disaster-prone areas to remain vigilant and to be prepared to deal with any disaster and prevent casualties.

According to data of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, at least 315 districts and municipalities across the country are prone to flooding.

Floods can possibly affect more than 63.7 million people. Some 274 districts and municipalities are at risk of landslides.

During the January-February 2016 period, floods and landslides had struck 260 districts and municipalities in the country, leaving 46 people dead and 16 others injured.(*)