Floods And Landslides In South Tapanuli, 278 Houses Affected

Floods in South Tapanuli (Photo: BNPB)

JAKARTA - Floods and landslides hit South Tapanuli Regency, North Sumatra Province on Saturday, December 18. So far, 278 houses have been affected by the floods and landslides.

"A total of 278 families (KK) in three sub-districts were affected by floods and landslides due to heavy rains which caused the Toru River in South Tapanuli Regency to overflow," said Plt. Head of BNPB Disaster Communication and Information Agency Abdul Muhari in his statement, Tuesday, December 21.

In addition to houses, floods and landslides also affected 2 units of elementary schools (SD), 3 road points were closed by landslides, and 14 units of four-wheeled vehicles were damaged.

Abdul Muhari said that three sub-districts were affected, including Angkola Sangkunur, Muara Batang Toru and South Angkola sub-districts.

"The team has also coordinated with the Social Service to provide assistance to affected communities, deployed heavy equipment to clear landslide material and is still monitoring the affected areas," he said.

Furthermore, he revealed that the current conditions at the location of the incident were cloudy and the water level varied from 1 to 2 meters.

Meanwhile, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) through its website released an early warning of the potential for heavy rain accompanied by lightning and strong winds that could cause flooding and landslides in mountainous areas, western slopes and the west coast of North Sumatra for Wednesday (12/22).

"BNPB urges the public to remain alert to disasters triggered by weather factors by carrying out mitigation and preparedness plans according to potential disasters in their area," he added.