Jubilee Post News & Views
Special Desk
Reports said at least 50 people have died, and the officials warned death toll could rise further, after havoc from flash flooding and landslides that hit Indonesia and Timor Leste.
Torrential rain sparked widespread destruction, with flood water from overflowing dams submerging thousands of homes on the islands. Rescue operations were brought in to scene immediately but the rescuers had tough time attempting to find survivors.
Injured people on the effected islands were evacuated to neighbouring villages that were unaffected, and many were admitted to hospitals and health facilities.
“Four sub-districts and seven villages have been impacted,” Indonesian Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesperson Raditya Jati said. The area under trouble stretched from Flores island in eastern Indonesia to the neighbouring nation of Timor Leste.
However East Flores deputy regent Agustinus Payong Boli estimated that as many as 60 people in his municipality had died. This number has not been confirmed by Indonesian national authorities.
“The majority of them, 55, are in Lemanele village,” he told a news agency. “Many people died here because the village was hit by both landslides and flash floods.”Officials in Timor Leste said another 11 people were killed by flooding in the capital Dili.
“We are still searching for the areas impacted by the natural disasters,” Joaquim Jose Gusmao dos Reis Martins, Secretary of State for Civil Protection for Timor, said.
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Flash floods and fatal landslides are common across the Indonesian archipelago during the monsoon season, between November and March.
