Share and Follow
At least 19 people have been killed in flash flooding in two Indonesian provinces, while five others remain missing.
Torrential rains have caused flooding and landslides in East Nusa Tenggara province and on the tourist island of Bali.
More than 500 people were evacuated, with public facilities including schools, village halls and mosques converted into makeshift shelters.
National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Abdul Muhari on Thursday said the number of people who had died in Bali had risen to 14, up from nine late on Wednesday, with two people missing.
“Officers are still carrying out emergency response efforts such as searching for victims and managing floods and landslides that have impacted the public,” he said.
The toll from a flash flood that hit the Nagekeo district of Flores island also rose to five after a young child was found dead on Thursday, local search and rescue agency head Fathur Rahman said.
Rescuers on Wednesday recovered the bodies of a mother and her child buried under mud in the worst-hit village of Mauponggo and a man in the neighbouring village of Loka laba in Nagekeo district of East Nusa Tenggara.
Previously, three members of a family were found dead after their house was swept away, and four people were missing in Mauponggo village.
In Bali, rescuers retrieved the body of a woman near the Badung market in Bali’s provincial capital of Denpasar.
Eight bodies were found earlier, including four people who were in a building that was swept away in the Kumbasari market area of South Denpasar, said Nyoman Sidakarya, the head of Bali’s Search and Rescue Agency.
The floods brought down two buildings in Denpasar.
Videos on social media showed floods on major roads leading to complete gridlock.
Severe flooding inundated thousands of homes and buildings in residential areas and tourist spots. Authorities have cut electricity and water, prompting hotels, restaurants, hospitals and other public facilities to use generators, Bali Governor Wayan Koster said.
There have been landslides in Karangasem, Gianyar and Badung districts, which have swept through at least 15 shops and houses and damaged several roads and bridges, he said.
“This disaster also caused material losses for traders and tourism businesses,” Koster said, adding that more than 800 people were in temporary shelters after floodwater reached up to 2.5 metres in places.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto expressed his condolences and instructed the head of the national disaster agency to fly to Bali to lead the emergency response and ensure the basic needs of the people are met.
The agency had distributed tents, food, blankets, mattresses, water pumps, and rubber boats.
