Balikpapan Surrounded By Floods, Capai Height 1.5 Meters

JAKARTA - The city of Balikpapan in East Kalimantan Province (Kaltim) is surrounded by floods with a water level of about 1.5 meters.

Floods due to Balikpapan have been raining heavily since Friday, March 7 in the morning.

"The worst water level reached about one to 1.5 meters," said Head of the Balikpapan City Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) Usman Ali in Balikpapan, Friday, March 7, as reported by Antara.

He said the worst flooded areas were at four points around Jalan MT Haryono, starting from the Gang Mufakat area, Jalan Penegakan, and Jalan Beller. Even on Jalan Beller, the puddles widened to the main road of MT Haryono.

"So the road cannot be passed by vehicles, both two-wheeled and four-wheeled, and quite high flooding also occurs in the Batu Ampar area and Jalan Jokotole," he said.

BPBD officers along with other SAR elements from the Balikpapan City Class A Search Office, the East Kalimantan Police Mobile Brigade SAR, and disaster volunteers, evacuated the affected residents using rubber boats.

Usman Ali asked the public to be more vigilant considering that until now the rain is still pouring down the city of Balikpapan. If the water is felt high enough, immediately evacuate early.

Dansat Brimob Polda Kaltim Kombes Pol Andy Rifai added that the Brimob SAR team continued to be alerted at the flood disaster site and focused on helping the evacuation process of residents who were willing to evacuate to safer places.

The Evacuation Team Commander from the Balikpapan Class A Search Office, Sianturi, added that the team had also evacuated a child trapped in a ditch inundated with water. The child was successfully evacuated and suffered minor injuries to the leg and immediately treated.

Jalan MT Haryono Kota Balikpapan was also completely paralyzed due to the flooding that inundated it with a height of about one to 1.5 meters. The local police diverted the flow of traffic for the road.

"We have deployed 45 personnel on guard at vulnerable points to help residents not to be trapped in floods," said Head of the Traffic Unit (Satlantas) of the Balikpapan City Police Commissioner (Kompol) Ropiyani.

Head of the Balikpapan City Education and Culture Office (Disdikbud) Irfan Taufik said a number of schools affected by learning and considered prone to landslides were carried out online.