Twenty Lives Lost as Severe Flooding Strikes Indonesia, Roads to Airport Blocked

Persistent heavy rain on Tuesday and yesterday triggered deadly flooding on the tourist island of Bali and across the East Nusa Tenggara province.

Residents in low-lying regions were forced to evacuate to schools and mosques as their homes went under water.

Rain caused rivers to burst their banks, tearing through nine cities and districts on Bali.

Mud, rocks and trees tumbled onto mountainside hamlets and rising rivers submerged at least 120 neighbourhoods and resulted in a dozen landslides in several places, National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari said in a statement.

Muhari said rescuers had retrieved five more bodies as floods receded in Bali, bringing the death toll from floods on the island to 14.

Rescue workers are searching for two residents still missing, he said.

As river levels returned to normal today, people in Denpasar, Bali’s capital, left crammed emergency shelters.

They found streets covered in mud and debris, cars lying upside down in parks or piled up in narrow alleys, and sidewalks strewn with sandals, pots and pans and old photographs.

Flooding also closed major roads in and out of Denpasar’s airport, disrupting travellers attempting to leave the island.

Australian flights to and from Bali were not been impacted by the flooding.

Jetstar confirmed it was closely monitoring the situation.

”We’re thinking of all those affected by this week’s flooding in Bali. The flooding has not impacted the safe operation of our flights in and out of Bali and we are closely monitoring the situation,” a spokesperson said.

“We’re currently providing greater flexibility for impacted customers due to travel on Wednesday 10 or Thursday 11 September with the option to move to another flight in the next three days.”

Virgin flights were also not affected.

Travellers were told to allow extra time to get to the airport.

Only trucks could access the island’s only international airport yesterday.

Social media videos showed Australian tourists waiting in a traffic gridlock following the floods.

Footage released by the National Search and Rescue Agency showed cars floating in floodwaters.

No Australians have been confirmed as casualties of the flooding.

The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said yesterday it was ready to provide consular support should it be needed.

Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Authority said the flood-affected areas include Denpasar City, Jembrana County, Gianyar County, Klungkung County, Badung County, and Tabanan County.

The floods brought down two buildings in Denpasar, said head of the island’s search and rescue agency I Nyoman Sidakarya.

“The handling efforts continue to focus on the search, help, as well as the evacuation of the affected citizens,” the agency said in a statement.

Around 200 rescuers were dispatched to the region.