Fourteen Areas Hit By Floods, Mitigation Agency

Jakarta, Jan 16 (ANTARA) - Fourteen areas in Indonesia are being hit by floods in the past few days, spokesman to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Sutopo Purwo Nugroho stated here on Monday. "The fourteen flooded areas are Pandeglang, Lebak, Serang, Serang city, Cilegon city, Tangerang, Pati, Bojonegoro, lamongan, Nganjuk, Sambas, Landak, Kutai Barat and Kutai Kartanegara," he said. Sutopo explained the flood that hit Pandeglang, Lebak, Serang, Serang city, Cilegon city and Tangerang had inundated 13,755 houses and took three casualties. He added floods also inundated the Jakarta-Merak toll road linked Merak port (Java-Sumatra island`s connecting port). "The toll road is inundated and the flood waters reached a height of meters. About 2,000 local people whose house arelocated near the toll road have started evacuation and set tents alongside the road," he said. Earlier it was reported that the Tangerang-Merak toll road got totally stuck following the overflowing of Ciujung river. "Road traffic on the Jakarta-Merak toll road had been totally disrupted and stuck since 6 am," spokesman of PT Marga Mandala Sakti (MMS) Hari Wirakusumah said. He said the floods took place since Saturday afternoon, and the flood waters have reached a height of 1.2 meters. Consequently, thousands of people living in the area of the river had to evacuate to the toll road. He still has no idea on the material loss caused by the floods which was similar to the floods which took place back in 2001. "We have asked for assistance from the Banten provincial administration," he said. In the meantime, head of the Banten Disaster Mitigation Agency Suyadi Wiraatmaja said hundreds of residents had been evacuated from the flooded areas, and food as well as medical supplies had also been provided.