Strong wind, heavy rains damage a dozen of houses in Jember

Jember, E Java (ANTARA) - Strong wind, followed by heavy, incessant rains, lashed the villages of Lampeji and Suco in Jember District, East Java Province, on Saturday afternoon, damaging at least 14 houses and causing several trees to fall down.

The calamity also damaged a kindergarten in Lampeji Village while the fallen trees blocked a road section and hit an empty house, Head of the Jember Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) Emergency and Logistics Division Heru Widagdo said.

There were 10 damaged houses in Kemiri Songo Hamlet of Lempeji Village, Mumbulsari Subdistrict. One of them suffered serious damages, while, in Curah Laos Hamlet, there were four houses with minor damages, he said.

However, there were no casualties in the disaster, he said, adding that local villagers need to stay alert on strong wind and whirlwind that could still recur until the end of this year.

In December, the agency recorded that several subdistricts in Jember District had been ravaged by strong winds, including Sumbersari, Kaliwates, Ajung, Pakusari, Tempurejo, Bangsalsari, Balung, and Silo, he added.

The rainy season has triggered flash floods in certain other parts of Indonesia.

Early this week, heavy, incessant rains lashed Wasior City in Teluk Wondama District, West Papua, prompting the Anggris River to overflow and inundate tens of houses and kiosks while damaging buildings.

"At least 46 houses incurred minor to serious damage owing to the mudflow in the aftermath of the heavy rainfall," Wasior Sub-district Head Anthonius Alex Marani revealed.

The 25-cm-thick mud swept across the floors of the houses and damaged all items inside. However, no casualties were reported in the disaster, he noted.

In Riau Province, six people died as flash floods and a landslide hit certain areas in the province, Riau Disaster Mitigation Agency's (BPBD's) Acting Head Edwar Sanger stated.

The landslide buried two of the dead victims, while four others died due to the flash floods inundating certain areas in the districts of Rokan Hulu and Kuantan Singingi, he remarked at a recent meeting with related authorities.

According to Sanger, the floods inundated the areas of 216 villages in the districts of Rokan Hulu, Kampar, Pelalawan, Kuantan Singingi, Indragiri Hulu, and Rokan Hilir, thereby affecting 8,798 houses.

Due to the grave nature of such natural disasters, the district governments of Kampar, Rokan Hulu, Pelalawan, and Indragiri Hulu had issued an emergency alert status in response to the threats of floods and landslides until the end of this year, he remarked.

The Riau provincial administration had also declared an emergency alert status in effect from Dec 20 to Dec 31, 2019.

At least 25,133 families, or some 62,630 people, were affected by the floods and landslide, most of whom are in the districts of Kuantan Singingi and Kampar, he noted.