Wulan River Embankment Broken Demak Flood, Tens Of Thousands Of Residents Refuge

Residents of Ketanjung Village, Karanganyar District, Demak Regency, Central Java are on Jalan Jembatan Tanggulangin while seeing the house inundated, Sunday (17/3/2024). (Between/Akhmad Nazaruddin Lathif)

JAKARTA - Tens of thousands of residents of Karanganyar District, Demak Regency, Central Java, on Sunday, fled after the Wulan River embankment broke again following the increase in river water discharge.

Tumini, a resident of Ketanjung Village in Demak, Sunday, admitted that she had to evacuate again, because at 02.00 WIB it was informed to evacuate, after information was spread that the Wulan River embankment had broken again.

It's just that, he said, his party did not know where to go, because until now it had not been informed where to evacuate.

The previous flood, he said, his party and their families fled to the Ketanjung Village Hall, which is located bordering Kudus Regency.

It's just that, he said, currently access to Kudus is also flooded, so we are waiting for further information.

Heni, a resident of Karanganyar Village whose house was also inundated due to the breakdown of the Wulan River embankment, again took refuge after February 8, 2024, also broke down and fled.

It's just that, he said, until 10:00 WIB, there was no information where to evacuate.

"Previously, our family fled to the Kudus Regency DPRD. However, currently there are also Kudus residents who have fled in the same place," he said as quoted by Antara.

He hopes that soon there will be a place to evacuate, because he is currently only waiting at the Tanggulangin Bridge on the border between Demak and Kudus.

Sri, another resident, admitted that she was forced to evacuate in her truck, because the shelter provided could not be reached because the road was flooded.

Danramil 08/Karaganyar Captain Cba Haryono revealed that the breakdown of the Wulan River embankment is estimated to have affected 10 villages.

For the number of affected residents, he said, there were tens of thousands of people, while the closest to the Wulan River embankment such as Ketanjung Village was around 1,200 people and Karanganyar Village was around 8,000 people.

The refugee camps, he said, were not yet available, but from Ketanjung Village provided at the Kedungwaru Lor Village Hall and Ketanjung Village Hall, but all the access was flooded.

Finally, he said, for the time being they have remained in the Wulan River embankment and under the Tanggulangin Bridge.