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INDONESIA-FLOOD
Flash floods kill nine in Indonesia
MEDAN, Indonesia, Jan 30, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Flash floods and landslides
have killed at least nine people and forced thousands into temporary shelters
on Indonesia’s Sumatra island, the local disaster agency said Thursday.
Torrential rain in North Sumatra this week sparked the disaster, with most
victims drowning or hit by logs swept away in the current, the agency added.
“We suspect (two victims) were killed after getting hit by logs,” said
Safaruddin Ananda Nasution, head of Central Tapanuli’s disaster mitigation
agency.
Rampant illegal logging in the area may have contributed to the disaster
by loosening the soil and making it susceptible to landslides, he added.
Several thousand residents have fled to shelters.
This month, record rains triggered flooding and landslides that killed
nearly 70 people in and around Jakarta, which is on neighbouring Java island.
Entire neighbourhoods in Indonesia’s capital — a megalopolis home to
around 30 million people — were submerged in floodwaters that forced tens of
thousands into shelters.
The Southeast Asian archipelago is regularly hit by floods during the
rainy season, which started in late November.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1330 hrs