Heavy Rain Causes 140 Houses in OKU District Flooded

Banjir di OKU, Sulsel (Foto: dokumentasi BNPB)

JAKARTA - Floods submerged 140 houses in Ogan Komering Ulu (OKU) Regency, South Sulawesi, on Sunday, October 17. Floods occurred due to high-intensity rain which caused the Ogan River to overflow and overflow into residential areas.

"Approximately 140 houses were flooded with a water level of 50-150 centimeters," said Acting Head of National Board for Disaster Management (BNPB) Disaster Information and Communication Center Abdul Muhari, Monday, October 18.

In addition, the flooding in OKU also caused 2 suspension bridges to be heavily damaged, 2 village hall buildings, 1 school building and 1 place of worship flooded. The flood affected 520 people and 110 people were forced to evacuate.

The results of temporary observations from the field, said Abdul Muhari, the flooding has affected three villages which include Lubuk Tupak Village, Muara Saeh Village, Lontar Village in Muara Jaya District.

In addition, a number of areas in the Semidangani and Pangandonan sub-districts were also affected, but the details are still in the process of further data collection.

"The latest condition reported by the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) Team of Ogan Komering Ulu Regency as of Monday at 03.00 a.m. local time, the flood was observed to be gradually receding, but the rain was still falling with moderate intensity," he said.

He continued, the BPBD of Ogan Komering Ulu Regency coordinated with other relevant agencies to deploy personnel, equipment, and logistics to meet the needs of affected residents and assist the evacuation process.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) issued weather forecast information stating that South Sulawesi Province still has the potential for heavy rain which can be accompanied by lightning and strong winds until Tuesday.

According to the monitoring of weather forecasts from the BMKG, the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) asked all policy makers in the regions to always carry out mitigation efforts and increase community preparedness in order to face the potential for hydrometeorological disasters that could be triggered by weather factors.