Sorong City Surrounded By Floods, West Papua Acting Paul Waterpauw Scheduled To Review Affected Locations Today

PAPUA - The city of Sorong in West Papua is surrounded by floods and landslides. The Acting (Pj) Governor of West Papua Paulus Waterpauw is scheduled to visit the locations affected by the natural disaster today, Tuesday, August 23.

Waterpauw admitted that until now he did not know the cause of the floods and landslides that hit a number of areas in Sorong City.

"I don't know the cause yet, but from the picture sent to me, the water is quite heavy. I will go there to check directly with the team from the provincial BPBD," said Waterpauw after inaugurating three acting regional heads in Manokwari, quoted from Antara, Tuesday. 23 August.

The former Commissioner General of Police ensured that victims affected by floods and landslides in Sorong City received immediate treatment.

Sorong City BPBD Head Herlin Sasabone added that the Sorong City Government has established a disaster emergency response status following floods and landslides in the area due to heavy rains since Tuesday, August 23 in the morning.

The disaster emergency response status in Sorong City is valid for 14 days starting from Tuesday to September 5, 2022.

The Sorong City Government has also opened an emergency response post for disaster management in the courtyard of the Sorong Mayor's Office.

Herlin said BPBD also coordinated with the Search and Rescue Office, the Police and the TNI in monitoring the impact of the disaster and evacuating disaster victims.

According to Sorong City BPBD data, landslides have caused two people to die, two people were injured, and two houses were damaged, and the flood caused thousands of residents' houses to be inundated in parts of the Sorong City area.

On the afternoon of Tuesday, August 23, the flooding that hit parts of the Sorong City area had begun to recede.

For the time being, BPBD also appealed to residents of Sorong City to remain vigilant because rainfall is estimated to be high according to the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).