Breaking Through Heavy Rain To Campus, A Student Dies In Floods In South Nias

Flood conditions in South Nias (doc BNPB)

NIAS SELATAN - A resident died when he was swept away by the flood that occurred in South Nias Regency, North Sumatra, last Tuesday. The flood occurred after previously heavy rainfall with a long period of flooding in the South Nias region. According to reports from the Head of the Emergency Section of the South Nias Regency Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), Epa Dekhi, the victim who was a student was swept away by the current after breaking through the flood when he was about to go to campus at 13.00 p.m. WIB. This victim was a student who was about to go to his campus at around 13.00 WIB. However, he was desperate to break through the flood, whose current was indeed quite fast at that time. Finally, the victim was dragged by the flood current," explained Epa Dekhi, Wednesday, September 20. The joint search and rescue team from BPBD South Nias, Basarnas, TNI and Polri then managed to find the victim's body within a distance of approximately 100 meters from the scene. Search and rescue efforts were hampered because The flood current was still quite strong, so for safety reasons, the team had to wait for the situation to be conducive. After being found at 18.30 WIB, the victim's body was then handed over to the family to be buried. "The victim was found dead at 18.30 WIB yesterday. The team at that time could not immediately search and rescue because the flood flow was very heavy and it was still raining heavily," said Epa. Furthermore Epa detailing the flood-affected areas covering four sub-districts, namely Luahagundre, Fanayama, Teluk Dalam, Toma and Onolalu. In addition to flooding, Epa said that extreme weather also triggered landslides at two points, namely in Onolalu District and Teluk Dalam District. According to Epa, landslide material in Onolalu has until now cut off traffic access, while those in Teluk Dalam can still be passed by vehicles. The joint team is still monitoring and guarding the location The avalanche is for security reasons. The clearing of mud material cannot be done due to limited equipment. "There are two points in Onolalu. Currently, avalanche material is blocking the road so it cannot be passed. Then there is also on the national road that connects Teluk Dalam to the city. But it can still be passed, "explained Epa. As for the current state, the flood has not subsided. The water level (TMA) was flooded according to observations in the field, ranging from 20-150 centimeters. On Besides that, moderate-intensity rain is still pouring in some areas. "Floods are still surviving. Currently it is still raining with moderate intensity," said Epa. As an effort to anticipate further disasters, the BPBD of Nias Regency has issued an appeal to the public referring to the latest weather forecast report from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), that moderate-intensity rain still has the potential to occur for the next three days.

The public is asked to remain vigilant and increase their capacity in anticipation of further disasters. People who live on the banks of rivers and are close to cliffs should carry out temporary self-evacuation if there is still rain within 2-3 hours. In addition, BPBD South Nias Regency also asked the public to continue to update weather forecast information from BMKG.