Not Only Houses, Cibareno River Overflowing After Banten Earthquake Causes Schools And Rice Fields In Sukabumi To Be Submerged

SUKABUMI - After an earthquake with a magnitude (M) of 5.5 centered in Bayah Regency, Banten on Sunday, October 9, the Cibareno River suddenly overflowed. As a result, two houses and a tofu-making factory were washed away in Cisolok District, Sukabumi Regency, West Java.

"In addition to being swept away, one resident's house was damaged and dozens of others were submerged, but we have not received any reports of casualties in this incident," said Cisolok Police Chief AKP Aguk in Sukabumi, as quoted from Antara, Sunday, October 9.

According to information gathered from the police, the two houses and one tofu factory that were swept away were located in Cilumayan Village, RT 01/09, Pasirbaru Village, Cisolok District. Then one damaged house was in Bantarkalapa Village, RT 04/10, Pasirbaru Village.

Meanwhile, dozens of submerged houses are scattered in Bantarkalapa and Cilumayan villages.

Not only residents' housing was submerged, but several other facilities were also submerged, such as the Sudalarang Elementary School in Bantarkalapa Village, and three hectares of rice fields inundated by the overflowing Cibareno River.

According to Aguk, until now his personnel are still at the location of the banjir bandang to monitor the development of disaster conditions, and until now the discharge and current of the Cibareno River is still high.

Meanwhile, the Village Head (Kades) of Pasir Baru Hidayah added that there were around 66 heads of families (KK) whose houses were in danger of being swept away by the overflowing Cibareno River.

Actually, his party has submitted a proposal for the construction of the embankment as an anticipation that if a flash flood reoccurs, it can minimize its impact. The development proposal has been submitted to the Sukabumi Regency Government, West Java Provincial Government to the central government since 2022 but there has been no realization until now.

As a result, every time there is a flood, the river water must inundate the residents' settlements and even a number of houses are washed away by the current of the Cibareno River. Even this time after the Banten earthquake, there was no sign that the Cibareno River would overflow, in fact, this river overflow was the largest in the last 15 years.

"The construction of the embankment must be a priority because, as is the case now, there are 450 people out of 160 families whose safety is threatened. To anticipate the unwanted, we continue to be on standby until the water recedes completely and urge residents to always be vigilant," he added.