12 Villages Affected By Flood, Bengkayang West Kalimantan Emergency Response

Floods submerged the road to the Puskesmas and Belitang Hilir Police in West Kalimantan in October 2021. (ANTARA-Ho)

WEST KALIMANTAN - The Bengkayang Regency Government (Pemkab) has declared an emergency response status in its area following the floods that hit 12 villages spread across five sub-districts in the Province of West Kalimantan (West Kalimantan).

"We have declared an emergency response status and handed over a number of aids to flood-affected communities," said the Head of the Bengkayang Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) Dwi Berta Meiliani, Friday, March 3 evening, quoted by Antara.

Meiliani said, so far there have been approximately 1,037 heads of households or 3,043 people spread across 12 villages in five sub-districts affected by the floods that have occurred since Tuesday 28 February, and inundated a number of residential areas.

The five sub-districts that were hit by the floods were Jagoi Babang Sub-district, Sewide, Sanggau Ledo, Siding, and Ledo Sub-Districts.

According to her, the local government continues to monitor conditions and continue to distribute assistance in a number of basic food staples and a number of assistance needed by the community and distributed in stages based on existing supplies.

"Floods in several villages in Jagoi Babang have started to recede, but there are several villages that have experienced an increase in water debit, such as Sinar Baru Village," she said.

She said that on Friday, March 3 today, the group of the Acting Secretary (Pj) of the Bengkayang Regional Secretary and Assistant I of the Bengkayang Regional Secretary, the Head of the Social Service, and the Ministry of Social Affairs Team visited the flood residents in Momong and at the same time delivered assistance and saw firsthand the evacuation process for the missing victims and provided condolences to the victim's family.

It is known that the boat of the bridal group sank on Tuesday, February 28 at around 13.30 WIB, when the water discharge began to rise.

On the way, the engine died and was hit by the swift currents of the river, causing the boat to capsize. The boat was carrying 16 people and three of them were declared drowned.

"Two drowning victims have been found dead, while one more person is still being searched by the joint SAR team, for now the problem is that heavy rain has occurred at the search location," said Meiliani.

With the flood conditions that have occurred in a number of villages in Bengkayang Regency, Meiliani appealed to the public to increase their preparedness and prioritize safety so that no casualties occur.