Floods In North Aceh Expand, More Than 4 Thousand Residents Evacuate

The BPBD Team of North Aceh Regency assisted in the evacuation process of flood-affected residents in North Aceh Regency, Wednesday (27/12/2023) (doc BNPB)

JAKARTA - The Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of North Aceh Regency, Aceh, reported that 1,173 families or 4,048 people were forced to evacuate due to widespread flooding in the area.

Head of BPBD North Aceh Regency Asnawi reported that the expansion of the coverage of flooded areas was observed in Lhoksukon and Tanah Luas Districts.

"The flood has affected 12,826 families or 44,244 people. A total of 1,173 families or 4,048 people were forced to evacuate at 18 points. From the results of the assessment, the flood has affected 108 gampongs in 13 sub-districts with water levels varying between 10-80 centimeters," said Asnawi, quoted by ANTARA, Thursday, December 28.

However, there are several points in other locations that are starting to gradually recede.

In addition, Asnawi also said that flooding had caused people to not be able to carry out economic activities. This is because the flood has caused the breakdown of several embankments such as in Gampong Paya Beradang, Lhok Meurbo and Tanjung Awe, which resulted in the road being cut off.

Thousands of hectares of rice fields and hundreds of hectares of ponds were also affected by the flood. The detailed coverage of the area and losses due to flooding is still being collected.

"People cannot carry out economic activities," said Asnawi.

As an effort to accelerate emergency handling, the North Aceh Regency Government has issued a Flood Emergency Response Status numbered 360/869/2023 which is valid for the next 14 days.

BPBD North Aceh Regency together with the local Forkopimda continue to seek emergency handling such as helping evacuate the community, meeting basic needs, conducting rapid assessments, monitoring flood conditions until they continue to coordinate with related elements to provide the best service during the emergency response period.