Indonesian Floods Kill at Least 60, as 167,000 People Evacuate

Bloomberg
Sunday, December 24, 2006

By Berni Moestafa

At least 60 people died and about 167,000 fled their homes after heavy rain overflowed rivers along Sumatra's north coast, flooding Aceh and other parts of the Indonesian island.

In Aceh's Tamiang regency, rescuers found 60 bodies, while hundreds were missing, Ghufran Zainal Abidin, chairman of the province's chapter of the Prosperous Justice Party, said in a telephone interview from Jakarta. ``Victims were trapped, or were swept away,'' Abidin said.

Whole villages are under water and people, seeking refuge on roofs, haven't eaten for two days, he said. The regency's capital, Kuala Simpang, is isolated and only accessible by boat, he added. ``Tamiang is the most affected by the flood.''

Across Aceh, some 150,000 evacuated after overflowing rivers caused floods and landslides in five regencies, said Governor Mustafa Abubakar today in a telephone interview.

Hundreds of houses were washed away and bridges and roads were destroyed, he said. ``This is the worst incident since the tsunami,'' he said.

The disaster comes almost two years after a magnitude-9 earthquake struck of the coast of Aceh, Indonesia's westernmost province, killing 220,000 people in 12 countries as giant waves swept across the Indian Ocean.

``The water has subsided, but it's still cloudy and weather forecasts show it may rain in the coming two days,'' Abubakar said. With land transportation difficult, food for the evacuees will be mostly delivered via air, with more logistical aid to come from the central government, he added.

In the neighboring Langkat regency in North Sumatra, half of 12 people who were missing had been found dead, the Republika newspaper reported today, citing the head of the province's ministry of information and communication office, Eddy Syofian. About 17,000 people were evacuated, he said.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla has blamed the flooding and landslides during the rainy season on destruction of the country's forests, the Jakarta Post reported today.

Indonesia will intensify national efforts to rehabilitate forests, allocating some 4 trillion rupiah ($441 million) annually starting next year, he was cited by the newspaper as saying.