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Musi Rawas. Prolonged flooding in the Musi Rawas district in South Sumatra has submerged more than 6,000 homes and damaged thousands of hectares of farmland, officials said over the weekend.

Musi Rawas district spokesman Suryadi NZ said the flooding, which lasted from Feb. 19 through Thursday, had destroyed three suspension bridges and a number of roads, completely cutting off access to three subdistricts.

Suryadi said 15 houses had been swept away.

However, no casualties have been reported, although hundreds of cattle were killed.

“The flood was caused by heavy rains which overflowed the Musi River, with 6,036 homes in 26 villages completely submerged,” Suryadi said.

“Thousands of hectares of farming land was also devastated,” he added.

Musi Rawas district head Ridwan Mukti Ridwan Mukti has allocated Rp 110 million ($11,770) to fix the collapsed bridges in a bid to restore access to the worst-affected areas.

“I have ordered the technical department to assist the local working unit so that they can work hand in hand to fix the damaged infrastructure,” Ridwan said. He also pledged Rp 5 million for each home destroyed in the disaster.

Officials are still assessing the total amount of damage caused by the flooding, but they expect the figure to reach billions of rupiah.

“I have asked all residents to stay on high alert for a possible repeat of the overflow,” Ridwan said.

Food and medical aid continued to arrive in the district on Sunday from government agencies and private companies and individuals.

Firdaus, coordinator of the disaster relief unit at the Ministry of Social Affairs, said water continued to recede in several parts of the affected area as of Sunday.

The major trans-Sumatra road that connects the South Sumatran capital, Palembang, with Lubuklinggau, another major city in the province, is now operational.

The road was previously inaccessible due to the flooding. A number of alternative roads were also submerged by the floods, disrupting traffic for nearly a week.

Meanwhile, the Musi Rawas health agency said it was asking the South Sumatra Health Office to help provide more chlorine to purify water and medicine to prevent the outbreak of disease in the three districts affected by the flooding.

Yanuar Saleh, of the Musi Rawas health agency’s Department of Disease Control and Environmental Health, said on Sunday that at least 100 kilograms of chlorine was needed to treat the flood’s victims, but the department had only about 50 kilograms remaining.

The department also needed at least 100 liters of chemicals to fumigate 26 flooded villages flooded but only had 40 liters left, Yanuar said.

He added that the floods had the potential to cause the spread of dengue fever.

 

Antara