Logs Dislodged by Flooding Turn Deadly in Sumatra

JAKARTA, Indonesia, November 5, 2003 (ENS) - Flash floods on the Indonesian island of Sumatra after two days of torrential rain have claimed the lives of 97 people, and injured 200 others. Today, the rains that persisted Monday and Tuesday have eased and water levels are going down.

Rescue workers are still scouring the region to find at least 124 people believed to be missing, although hopes are fading that many will be found alive. The police, government search and rescue teams, and the military are assisting in the search, but workers expect the death toll to rise over the next few days.

Flooding in Sumatra has sent people fleeing from their homes. (Photo courtesy FAO)

The floods did the most damage in the area of Bahorok, when the Bahorok River burst its banks, destroying the village of Bukit Lawang, about 96 kilometers (60 miles) northwest of the Sumatran capital of Medan. The water swept 402 houses away and heavily damaged 400 resort cottages.

The floods in Bahorok carried hundreds of logs down from the slopes of nearby Mount Leuser, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The logs smashed fragile bamboo homes, cottages, and concrete structures. Many of the dead were buried under the logs.

Electricity and phone lines were cut by the floods, and eight bridges have been swept away. Provincial and aid agencies have provided body bags, food, tents and pharmaceuticals to the flood victims.

President Megawati Sukarnoputri extended condolences to the victims during a ceremony today at the state palace and expressed her concern over the enduring environmental destruction that led to the devastating flash floods.

In May some 20 nongovernmental organizations forming the Indonesian NGO Network for Forest Conservation urged the House of Representatives to stop the construction of a road that they warned would affect the ecosystem around the Mount Leuser.

They said that the construction of Ladia Galaska road, which cuts through protected forest to connect west and east coastal areas would damage the conserved area on Mount Leuser.

Illegal logging has been rampant for years in Mount Leuser National Park. The ecosystem is inhabited by 300,000 species, including endangered species such as the Sumatran rhinos, orangutans, Sumatran tigers, and elephants.

On the neighboring island of Java, heavy rain caused a landslide that damaged 115 houses, rice fields and public utilities including an electricity plant in the district of Ayah. The number of injuries was unclear, the Red Cross said.