Jember City Is Covered By Floods 1,106 People Are Evacuated

Flood Illustration (doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) Jember, East Java said that as many as 436 houses near the Bedadung watershed (DAS) were affected by the flood. The water level was observed to be more than one meter.

"The temporary data of 436 residents' houses, one education facility and two worship facilities were affected by the flood due to the overflow of the Bedadung River. Officers continue to carry out data collection", said Head of Emergency and Logistics Division of BPBD Jember Heru Widagdo in Jember, Saturday, January 30.

Heavy rain that flushed a number of areas in Jember for several hours caused the Bedadung River to overflow, soaking hundreds of houses around the Bedadung watershed, and even one house on the riverbank was reportedly washed away by heavy water.

"Based on the data, the floods hit 13 villages and sub-districts spread across seven sub-districts in Jember Regency, but so far we have not received reports of casualties and hopefully none", he said.

Based on temporary data compiled by BPBD Jember, 278 families or 1,106 people were affected by the flood due to the overflow of the Bedadung River. The majority of residents who were evacuated were elderly, mothers, and toddlers.

"Tagana Social Service of Jember has also set up a public kitchen in the Environmental Pondok Social Unit (Liposos) to distribute food to residents affected by the floods", he said.

Based on data from BPBD Jember, the flood-affected areas, namely Jelbuk Village in Jelbuk District, have 12 houses, then in Kalisat Village/District, the flood inundated Nurul Qur'an Islamic Boarding School with a water level of 100 cm and 20 houses, as well as a shop.

Jember flood evacuation (doc. BPBD Jember)

The flood also inundated Puri Antirogo Housing in Patemon Village, Pakusari District with 19 houses submerged in floods, then in Patrang Sub-district/Sub-district, Kampung Durenan, Patrang District, Gladak Kembar in Sumbersari District.

Then Kepatihan District in Kaliwates District, Pakusari District and Bengawan Solo Street in Sumbersari District, Villa Indah Tegalbesar Housing, and Rambipuji Village/District.

As of Saturday morning, several flood locations had started to recede, but residents remained on alert to raise awareness and anticipate further floods along with the high rainfall in Jember.