Floods And Strong Winds Hit 13 Villages In Bima, Thousands Of Residents Affected

Flash floods in Bima (Between)

BIMA - The Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of Bima Regency, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), said floods and strong winds hit 13 villages in five sub-districts in the district on Monday, November 10.

Head of the Emergency and Logistics Division of the Bima Regency BPBD, Nurul Huda, revealed that the disaster was triggered by high rainfall in hilly areas which caused the flood to overflow from small rivers into residential areas.

"Most of the areas have receded, but the team is still collecting data and conducting rapid assessments in the field," said Nurul, quoted by Antara, Tuesday, November 11.

He said that as a result of this flood, 2,347 people were affected, hundreds of houses were submerged, and a number of infrastructure was damaged by overflowing water and strong winds.

Of the five sub-districts that were hit by the flood, Sanggar District became the worst affected area. The flood submerged four villages, each Boro, Kore, Sandue, and Taloko villages, with water levels varying from 20 to 80 centimeters.

"In Boro Village, floods hit 54 heads of families (KK) or 54 houses in four RTs. Meanwhile, in Kore Village, 138 families or 417 people were affected in six RTs. Sandue Village, 61 houses were inundated, while in Taloko Village 54 houses were recorded submerged," he explained.

Meanwhile, continued Nurul Huda, strong winds hit two villages in Wawo District, namely Pesa and Maria Villages. A total of 15 houses were damaged, mostly on the roof.

"The electricity and trees also collapsed on people's houses in Pesa Village, but there were no casualties in the incident," he said.

Furthermore, flooding also occurred in three villages in Bolo District, namely Nggembe, Pile, and Rada.

"In Nggembe Village, 204 families or 612 people were affected, the two hamlets in the village were submerged in water as high as 30 to 60 centimeters. In Pile Village, the flood inundated 32 houses, while the access road for the province across Sila-Donggo was inundated as high as 40 centimeters. In Rada Village, the flood from Mount Donggo caused the drainage to overflow, submerging 47 families or 145 people," he explained.

Next, Soromandi District also experienced flooding in Lewintana and Bajo villages. In Lewintana, 121 families or 382 people were affected, and the province route across Sila-Donggo was inundated along 65 meters. Meanwhile, in Bajo, puddles closed roads of up to 30 centimeters and submerged four stalls belonging to residents.

Meanwhile, in Wera District, floods caused river cliffs in Mandala and Nangawera villages to collapse for more than 200 meters due to the swift flow of water from the hills.

BPBD Bima district ensures that there are no casualties. However, a number of urgent needs are still needed in the field, including emergency response assistance, logistics and equipment (logpal), zinc roofs/spandek, repair of emergency infrastructure, and excavators for cleaning up mud and garbage materials.

"Our team continues to coordinate with the sub-district head, village officials, the TNI-Polri, and related agencies to speed up handling," said Nurul Huda.

BPBD Bima Regency also coordinates with BPBD NTB and other technical agencies to ensure emergency handling runs quickly and on target.

In addition, Nurul Huda reminded residents to immediately report to village posts, Babinsa, or Babinkamtibmas, if there is an increase in water discharge or infrastructure damage due to extreme weather.

"Be aware of the sudden weather changes and the flow of water from the hills. Extreme weather still has the potential to occur in the next few days," he said.