Floods force thousands to evacuate in Aceh

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 12/10/2008 6:03 PM

More than 4,000 families or about 12,000 residents of the Aceh Singkil district in Aceh have been forced to evacuate since Sunday following flash floods triggered by days of torrential rains.

"They have been evacuated to temporary shelters on higher ground," said Syahbuddin, a local administration official, as quoted by Antara on Wednesday.

Syahbuddin said floodwaters inundated thousands of houses in the Singkil Lama and Singkil Kota subdistricts after heavy rains caused the Lae Soraya and Lae Cenendang rivers to overflow.

"Besides Aceh Singkil, two subdistricts in South Aceh district were also hit by floods but as of Wednesday the water level has slowly started to drop back," Syahbuddin said.

"Emergency supplies have been distributed to flood victims in Aceh Singkil," said Bukhari, speaking for the province's social services office.

Bukhari added that in the past few weeks a number of districts in Aceh, including East Aceh, North Aceh, South Aceh, Lhokseumawe and Bireuen have also been hit by flooding.

According to Bukhari, flash floods and landslides also hit several areas of Southeast Aceh, Central Aceh, West Aceh, Aceh Jaya, and Nagan Raya districts late last month, with no fatalities reported. (dre)