North Gorontalo Floods, Disconnected Sulawesi Cross Roads

GORONTALO - High intensity rain caused a number of areas in North Gorontalo Regency to be flooded on Tuesday, February 14 evening.

The high rainfall that occurred throughout the day also caused the Sulawesi road and village roads, as well as settlements to be flooded since the afternoon.

"The flood submerged several villages in Sumalata and Biau sub-districts, the western region of this district," said Secretary of the North Gorontalo Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), Rully Tanaiyo, in Gorontalo, Tuesday, February 14, as reported by Antara.

Based on preliminary data received by BPBD, floods as high as the knee of adults submerged the Tonala Hamlet and Mata Putih Hamlet in Mebongo Village, Sumalata District; Bindengi Hamlet and Olibulu Hamlet in Omuto Village; and Motilango Hamlet and Motabi Hamlet in Bualo Village, Biau District.

Rully said that until now there have been no reports of casualties and houses being badly damaged.

However, in a number of areas, several houses were lightly damaged in the process of collecting data by hamlet heads.

"We hope that residents will evacuate immediately if the water discharge continues to rise. Considering that the flood currents are quite heavy in the Biau sub-district area. Rainfall is still high," he said.

The BPBD team coordinated across sectors in flood prevention efforts in the area, including continuing to monitor vulnerable areas considering that rain was still pouring down most of the coastal areas.