Flooding In Aceh Forces Thousands To Evacuate

Banda Aceh, Jan 21 (Antara) - Floods that inundated five villages in several sub-districts of South Aceh District, Aceh Province, since Saturday (Jan. 17) have forced at least 2,355 residents to evacuate. Chief Executive of South Aceh Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency Cut Syazalisma remarked here on Monday that the people had to evacuate as their houses were inundated by floodwaters reaching an average height of 50 centimeters. The flood-affected villages are Titi Poben and Lubok Pusaka Villages in East Trumon Sub-district, Lhok Raya and Cot Bayu Villages in Central Trumon Sub-district, and Padang Harapan Village in Trumon Sub-district. Syazalisma pointed out that the current flooding is the worst incident to have occurred during the last five years after the Gelombang Subulussalam River breached its banks and overflowed. The floods also damaged thousands of hectares of agricultural fields, including palm oil plantations and corn fields. "We are worried that the increasing water level will pose a threat to the lives of the people. Besides this, there are some kids who are playing in dirty puddles. In order to maintain health and safeguard their lives, we evacuated the people to better places until the floodwaters recede," Syazalisma reported. The people were evacuated using an inflatable boat of the agency and assisted by several officers of the Indonesian Military and Police as well as the Indonesian Red Cross. The refugees were accommodated in three emergency tents in the Brimob Housing Complex area located in Ie Jeurneh Village of Central Trumon Sub-district. The agency has provided a mobile kitchen vehicle, IRC ambulance, and other vehicles for offering assistance. According to Ganda Syahputra, the village head of Lhok Raya, the disaster has affected the livelihood of the local people as the floods have ravaged agricultural areas. "Thousands of hectares of palm oil plantations and corn fields are damaged, and the harvest has also rotted, particularly rice and corn," Ganda stated.