Flood Impact, Samarinda-Bontang Line Paralyzed

Samarinda BPBD trucks stand by at Simpang Alaya in preparation for evacuating residents of Sungai Pinang Subdistrict and North Samarinda Subdistrict/Via ANTARA

SAMARINDA - The access road to the Samarinda-Bontang route, East Kalimantan until the afternoon at around 16.15 WITA to 20.05 WITA was still paralyzed due to flooding.

"Temporary data collected by friends in the field as of 17:27 WITA, floods submerged a number of roads in Samarinda," said Head of the Samarinda City Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) Suwarso in Samarinda, Antara, Friday, July 28.

Locations that were flooded include the Sempaja intersection with a water level of 5-10 cm, the Kebun Agung intersection with a TMA of 10-25 cm, the Mugirejo intersection with a TMA of 10-30 cm, Jalan Mugirejo, and the Alaya intersection reaching 30 -60 cm, Jalan AW Syahrani about 10-15 cm.

Floods due to heavy rains also submerged Jalan Suryanata, Jalan Slamet Riadi, Jalan Cipto Mangun Kusumo, Jalan S Parman, Jalan Gerilya, Jalan Merdeka, and Simpang Empat Wisma to Jalan Nuri.

Based on observations at Simpang to Bukit Alaya, as of 19:40 WITA there were still hundreds of vehicles, both two-wheeled and four-wheeled, that were still standing because they couldn't move.

One of the residents of Mugirejo Village who was stuck in traffic due to flooding, Fatimah, who was found on Jalan Bukit Alaya with her three children, admitted that she and her children were forced to wait in the area, because they could not pass because the access to their house was surrounded by floods.

"This afternoon at around 16.00 WITA when I went to pick up school children, it was raining and it was already flooded, but it was still passable for the direction of Mugirejo to the city center, but those from the city to Mugirejo or the Samarinda - Bontang route had started to get jammed due to flooding," he said.

He hoped that at least by 21.00 the flood had subsided so that he and his children could go home to rest, because he felt sorry for his two children who had just been picked up at SDN 002 and SMPN 37 Samarinda.