26 Villages Affected By Flash Floods In Pati, Central Java

PATI - The Regional Disaster Management Agency of Pati Regency, Central Java, noted that 26 villages were affected by floods due to high rainfall on the slopes of the Muria Mountains. Meanwhile, 42 units of residents' houses were severely to lightly damaged.

"A total of 26 villages were affected by the flood on Thursday (14/7), spread over four sub-districts," said Head of the Emergency Section of BPBD Pati Budi Mulyawan as reported by ANTARA, Friday, July 15.

The flash flood that occurred in Margoyoso District was recorded as having six affected villages, starting from the villages of Bulumanis Kidul, Bulumanis Lor, Tunjungrejo, Waturoyo, Cebolek, and Sekarjalak.

Then in Trangkil Sub-district only in Karangwage Village and in Wedarijaksa Sub-district spread over five villages, starting from Margorejo Village, Tawangharjo, Jontro, Nguren Siti, and Nguren Rejo.

Meanwhile, in Pati sub-district, there were 14 villages, starting from Dengkek, Cengkok, Setulan, Semampir, Geta'an, Kalidoro, Sarirejo, Ngipik, Sidokerto, Payang, Mulyoharjo, Kutoharjo, Ngepungrejo and Widorokandang villages.

For the affected houses, in Bulumanis Kidul Village (Margoyoso) it was recorded that there were 17 houses, six of which were badly damaged and 11 lightly damaged.

Meanwhile, in Parengan Village, 11 houses were heavily damaged and in Tunjungrejo Village there were eight heavily damaged houses, two moderately damaged houses and four lightly damaged houses.

Based on the results of the assessment, the Pati Regency BPBD Rapid Response Team (TRC) found that there was one point of a broken river embankment with a length of approximately 25 meters in Bulumanis Kidul Village which caused six houses to be washed away and 11 houses were slightly damaged.

Meanwhile, the flood in Tunjungrejo Village was also caused by the collapse of the Sat River embankment, resulting in seven houses being swept away by flash floods, while seven other houses were heavily damaged.

The river embankment in the local village had previously burst on Monday (27/6) and had been repaired, but the heavy rain that fell from Wednesday (13/7) night until Thursday (14/7) midnight caused the damage for the second time.

In addition, the Soewondo Pati General Hospital was also inundated with water until it entered several rooms and had time to disrupt health services. Including the Office of Women's Empowerment, Child Protection and Family Planning (DP3AKB) was also flooded.

Meanwhile, 55 people from 14 families were displaced in Bulumanis Village. Previously there were 425 residents of Kalidoro Village who took refuge in Kalidoro Mosque, but now they have returned to their respective homes.

As an effort to accelerate the handling of banjir bandang disasters, the Pati Regency BPBD together with other relevant agencies have been at the location for coordination and quick review. A field post was also established at the Bulumanis Village Hall, in order to facilitate coordination and emergency handling.

In order to meet the food and drinking needs of the affected residents and the team in the field, public kitchens were also established at three points, namely at the Social Service Office, Bulumanis Kidul Village Hall and the residence of the Tunjungrejo Village Head.

A number of logistical needs have also been distributed to survivors with types of children's food, ready-to-eat food, ready-to-eat side dishes, baby equipment, ready-to-eat bread and several other necessities.

Until today (15/7), a joint team with the community continues to work together to clean settlements and roads from debris and mud carried by flash floods.

The cleaning was supported by four excavators from the River Basin Center (BBWS) and the local Public Works Department. In addition, trucks carrying mud and garbage and other debris were also alerted, including water tank cars for road cleaning belonging to the Pati Regency BPBD.