Jambi flooded as Batanghari River overflows

Jambi, Sumatra (ANTARA News) - Batanghari River in Jambi Province overflowed and inundated Jambi City, forcing 166 residents to flee their homes.

The water level of Batanghari River has reached a height of up to more than 13 meters, Head of the Jambi provincial social welfare service Jazid Idris said here on Tuesday.

The Jambi authorities were on alert to anticipate the flooding of spreading to wider areas, he said.

The local administration has prepared among other things a number of emergency tents and tens of rubber boats, to help flood victims.

At Legok kampong, two large emergency tents have been set up to accommodate the 166 flood victims.

The Jambi province also has a stock of 75 tons of rice to be distributed to local people in case of emergency.

Indonesia will continue to experience above-average precipitation under the impact of La Nina in the period December 2007 - February 2008, according to the US National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration (NOAA)`s National Weather Service (NWS) recently.

In addition to Jambi, floods also hit several other provinces in Indonesia recently, such as in Gorontalo, Central Java, East Java, West Java and South Kalimantan.