Dozens Of Houses In Cianjur Threatened By Landslides, 6 Families Refuge

PHOTO VIA BETWEEN

CIANJUR - Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) Cianjur, West Java, noted that dozens of houses were threatened by landslides in four villages in Campaka District, one house was heavily damaged and six families were forced to evacuate to avoid further landslides.

Secretary of the Cianjur BPBD, Rudi Wibowo said heavy rains with an intensity of more than three hours caused landslides on the cliffs on the outskirts of the village, not only threatening houses, the landslides also blocked road access between villages.

"The landslide hit four villages in Campaka District, there were no casualties in the disaster, but a number of houses were damaged. Four villages affected by the disaster, Mekarjaya, Campaka, Cidadap and Wangunjaya villages, for village roads are still under joint handling," he said, quoted by Antara, Monday, April 18th.

Currently, the officers together with the Disaster Resilient Volunteers (Retana) in the area are alerted and collect data and immediately evacuate residents when they see natural signs that another landslide will occur, even though six families consisting of 16 people have evacuated.

"Most of them went to the houses of neighbors or relatives that were safe from the landslide. For one house that was damaged in Mekarjaya Village, we have received assistance from officers and volunteers, including residents who fled to a number of other places," said Rudi.

The head of Mekarjaya Village, Ahmad Saepudin, said the landslide that occurred after heavy rains with an intensity of more than three hours had panicked residents who rushed out of their houses to save themselves, until it was time for breaking the fast, residents stayed outside their homes.

"In our village one house was damaged by landslides and more than six houses were threatened. It is possible that more than 15 houses were threatened from three other nearby villages," he said.

Meanwhile, the Camat of Campaka, Saeful Rohman, said that he had coordinated with the Cianjur BPBD to take immediate action and anticipate the occurrence of further landslides because in the evening it rained heavily again, making it prone to natural disasters.

"We continue to urge residents to evacuate immediately when it rains heavily with an intensity of more than two hours because most of the Campaka area is included in the disaster red zone. We also ask residents to be observant in reading natural signs of natural disasters," he said.