Luawang River Flood Destroys Thousands of Houses in Situbondo

Illustration of flooding (ANTARA)

SITUBONDO - Flooding due to the overflow of the Lubawang River hit thousands of homes in several villages in Besuki District, Situbondo Regency, East Java, Wednesday, January 21 at night. The villages affected include Jetis, Blimbing, Langkap, Besuki, Demung, and Coastal Villages.

Camat Besuki Yakup Alex Susanto said the flood occurred after the Besuki and surrounding areas were hit by heavy rain accompanied by strong winds from 15.00 WIB to 21.00 WIB.

"Heavy rain accompanied by strong winds for several hours caused the Lubawang River and several tributaries to overflow because they were unable to accommodate the water discharge," said Yakup, Thursday, January 22, as quoted by Antara.

The overflow of the river then flooded the residents' settlements with varying water levels. In some locations, the flood height was reported to reach the chest of an adult or about one meter.

"The average water level is between 40 centimeters to one meter. The worst condition occurs in Pesisir Village and some Besuki Villages. The provisional estimate is around a thousand houses affected," he said.

In addition to Besuki District, the overflow of the Lubawang River was also reported to have submerged residents' houses in Kalianget Village, Banyuglugur District. Not only settlements, the flood also flooded the northern coastal highway (pantura) which crossed Besuki and Banyuglugur Districts, thus disrupting traffic flow.

Until Thursday morning, officers from the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), Disaster Standby Cadets (Tagana), as well as the TNI and Polri were still at the location to assess the impact of the flood. Data collection was carried out at a number of affected points in Bungatan, Mlandingan, Besuki, and Banyuglugur Districts.