REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - In the past two weeks, floods and landslides have hit parts of Indonesia, particularly Java, Sumatra, Sulawesi, and Kalimantan Islands, and continue to spread further, thereby claiming more lives as torrential rains continue to lash.

In Jakarta, the number of refugees has shown a steep rise from 30,784 people recorded on January 19, to 89,334 people on January 22, 2014. The death toll rose from seven to 12. The floods that commenced on January 14, had affected 34 subdistricts, 100 urban villages, 444 neighborhoods, 672 families, and a total of 134,662 residents in the capital city, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) stated on January 21. 

In the North Sulawesi Province, the death toll due to the floods and landslides has risen to 19: six in Manado, six in Tomohon, six in Minahasa, and one in North Minahasa. In Manado alone, 85,831 people or 23,204 families were affected and over 10 thousand houses were damaged. 

Vice President Boediono and Chairman of the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) M. Jusuf Kalla, former vice president, visited Manado on Tuesday (Jan. 21) to disburse relief aid and collect first-hand information about the damages inflicted by the natural disasters. 

In the West Java Province, incessant torrential rains have triggered floods in seven districts such as Karawang, Bandung, Bekasi, Subang, Indramayu, and Depok City, thereby inundating thousands of houses. Most of the floods in those districts were caused by the rivers overflowing their banks or by the breaking down of dikes. 

Thousands of houses in the Bandung Selatan district were inundated when the Citraum River overflew its banks in Baleendah. In Karawang, the worst-affected district in West Java, the local administration has declared a state of emergency as 28 out of the 30 subdistricts have been flooded in the past few days. 

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