Nine Indonesians Evacuate In Canada Flood

Jakarta, June 24 (Antara) - Nine Indonesians are among 70 people evacuating to higher grounds after floods swept through the Canadian city of Calgary last Thursday, the Indonesian Foreign Ministry said. The Indonesians were forced to evacuate after their homes were submerged by the floods triggered by heavy rainfall, the ministry`s director of information and media, P.L.E Priatna, said in a written statement released on Sunday night. "The Indonesian consul general based in Vancouver has contacted a number of Indonesian citizens living in the affected area and they are all safe and given shelter at other Indonesian citizens` homes," he said. Priatna said the Indonesian consulate general kept communicating with the Indonesian social organization/student association in Calgary. The Indonesians had also been called upon to monitor a danger warning issued by the local authorities, he said. Reuters reported some residents began returning to damaged homes on Saturday after record-breaking floods in southern Alberta. The floods that killed at least three people and displaced more than 100,000 are expected to leave Calgary without power for days. The floods followed 36 hours of unusually heavy rainfall which pushed the volume of water in local rivers to record levels. Some communities received six months of their normal rainfall in under two days. Evacuations started on Thursday, and utility Enmax switched off power to central Calgary on Friday afternoon to avoid water damage to its downtown facilities. The area was still without power and closed to vehicles on Saturday.