Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan | Archipelago | Wed, August 29 2012, 7:57 AM
The Medan municipality and Central Tapanuli regency in North Sumatra were hit by floods and landslides on Tuesday due to high intensity rains over the past two days.
Hundreds of residents, especially those living along the Deli River in Medan, were reported have been evacuated to safer places such as subdistrict offices, as their homes were engulfed by floods as high as 60 centimeters. Hundreds of pupils from two elementary schools in Maimun district, Medan, were sent home as their schools were inundated with floods.
The floods in Medan took place since 00:30 a.m. but as of 10 a.m. floods from the overflowing Deli River had not subsided, so residents remained in the shelters.
In Central Tapanuli regency, landslides cut off the seven, 16 and 18 kilometer sections of the Trans Sumatra highway in Sitahuis district, stranding hundreds of vehicles. Vehicles could not use the road due to the landslides that took place early on Tuesday. As a result, vehicles were backed up 10-kilometer along the route.
Central Tapanuli Regent Raja Bonaran Situmeang said he had instructed the relevant agencies, such as the Public Works and Disaster Center, to immediately handle the landslide. Bonaran acknowledged that work to clean up the landslides was slow because he first received information on the disaster at 4 a.m.
“The landslides took place at midnight. At that point nothing was being done because everyone was sleeping, but now our personnel are in the field to help clean up the landslides covering the road,” Bonaran told The Jakarta Post in Medan on Tuesday.
Bonaran said no casualties were reported in the disaster, but hundreds of cars were trapped in traffic due to the landslides. He expressed optimism the landslide would be cleared this afternoon so people could resume their journeys.
He said the landslides that took place in the three locations resulted from continuous rain and unstable soil conditions.
Medan Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysical Agency (BMKG) information and data affairs head Hendra Suwarta said the floods and landslides in Medan and Central Tapanuli were triggered by high rainfall in the past few days. He added that rainfall in August was part of the arrival of the rainy season, in which intensity would further increase from September until November.
“Residents must be alert to the consequences during the rainy season, such as floods, landslides, strong winds and high tides,” Hendra said on Tuesday.
He added areas prone to floods were the Medan and Sibolga municipalities, and Langkat regency, while landslide-prone areas were located in high-plain regions, such as Deli Serdang, Karo, Dairi, North Tapanuli, Central Tapanuli, Mandailing Natal and Padang Lawas regencies.
Hendra said areas at risk of being hit by strong winds were mainly located along the coastal areas in Sumatra, such as the Asahan and Labuhan Batu regencies. He added that high tides were likely to occur in waters off the western part of North Sumatra.
In April last year massive flooding between two and three meters deep affected several districts in Medan, North Sumatra, engulfing thousands of homes and paralyzing traffic along a number of roads for at least four hours.
A number of schools were forced to send students home, with buildings swamped by rising floodwaters.
Polonia Airport was also engulfed by floodwaters, especially around the runway, but the water did not disrupt flight schedules.
Heavy rains caused three rivers — Babura, Deli and Belawan — to overflow, engulfing thousands of homes in Simalingkar district, including the official residences of the governor, provincial police and military chiefs.