cicemburong News

Banda Aceh (ANTARA News) - More than 1,125 people in South Aceh district have been evacuated to temporary shelters following flash floods triggered by days of torrential rain since Monday, Aceh provincial social service office spokesman Bukhari said here on Thursday.Bukhari said thousands of houses in Seunebok Pusaka and Cot Bayu villages in Trumon Timur subdistrict, South Aceh, were inundated by flood waters after the heavy rain caused Gelombang river between the two villages to overflow.

Earlier on Tuesday, the flood waters inundated or damaged thousands of houses in the districts of Southeast Aceh, Aceh Singkil, Aceh Jaya, West Aceh, Nagan Raya, and South Aceh.Bukhari said the flood waters started to inundate thousands of houses in the six districts on Monday after several rivers there overflowed their banks.Meanwhile, Trumon Timur subdistrict head said that as of Thursday heavy rain continued to fall in Sunebok Pusaka and Cot Bayu villages but most of the local residents had yet to be evacuated."If the rain fails to subside in the next two days, the number of refugees is predicted to rise even more," he said.

Three months ago, three districts, namely Aceh Jaya, West Aceh, and Nagan Raya on the west coast of the province were inundated by flash floods which were triggered by days of torrential rains.Hundreds of people were then forced to abandon their homes but luckily there was no fatality in the flood disaster."We always remind the people in flood prone areas to remain alert in every rainy season," Bukhari said.Meanwhile, Blang Bintang Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) spokesman in Aceh Besar, Syamsuir, said part of Aceh province in the next few days would be hit by heavy rains, and therefore the local people should remain alert.

"We will continue to monitor the latest development of floods in the six districts for possible evacuation of flood victims if necessary," Syamsuir said.Asked about basic necessaries in those districts if the local residents were evacuated, Syamsuir said there was no problem because the region had enough rice in stock.(*)