Flood Smothered 3 Villages in OKU South Sumatra, 148 Souls Affected

JAKARTA - Flooding hit three villages in Ogan Komering Ulu Regency (OKU), South Sumatra (Sumsel), including Tubohan Village, Panggal-Panggal and Ulak Pandan Village with a water height of 70 centimeters.

Head of the OKU Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), Januar Efendi, said that the heavy rainfall that occurred on Friday, February 6, caused flooding to hit three villages in the Semidang Aji District.

Based on the results of the data collection, the flood submerged 37 houses of residents with 148 people affected by the natural disaster.

Although there were no casualties, the natural disaster disrupted community activities because the Sumatra Cross Road was flooded with water levels between 20-70 centimeters.

"This natural disaster is the second time it has occurred after previously hitting dozens of residents' houses in Ulak Pandan Village on Wednesday, February 4," he said in Baturaja, Saturday, quoted by Antara.

As an effort to overcome it, BPBD OKU sent personnel and equipment to the flood site to evacuate victims affected by natural disasters.

"The flood conditions in the three villages are currently receding. Our personnel are still in the field to help residents clean their houses from garbage and mud carried by the flood," he said.

On this occasion, he again appealed to the public to continue to increase vigilance in the face of potential subsequent flooding to anticipate human casualties.

"We also increase weather monitoring from BMKG and monitor the discharge of the Ogan River and the Lengkayap River as an effort to prevent natural disasters as early as possible," he said.