Disasters & Accidents

Rescue teams look for survivors after floods claim 138 lives in Indonesia

Jakarta, Apr 7 (efe-epa).- Indonesia’s emergency teams have been working against the clock on Wednesday in the southern part of the country to try to find the 61 missing in the floods that have so far claimed 138 lives over the last few days.

Continuous rainfall in the region has complicated rescue and relief efforts as some dozen helicopters are been mobilized to distribute food and other essential materials in the more remote areas, according to the country’s disaster management agency.

The storm caused by the passage of tropical cyclone Seroja has affected several islands since the weekend in the Indonesian archipelago and neighboring East Timor, where at least 27 people have died.

Rescue operations are centered around the hundreds of houses and buildings that were swept or affected by the floods as they look for survivors among the rubble, mainly on the islands of Lembata and Alor.

Several roads were destroyed, while other roads are obstructed by fallen trees and piles of mud and dirt left by the flood water.

Around 8,000 displaced people have been housed in over a dozen centers and camps set up by the authorities.

The Indonesian meteorological department has warned that heavy rainfall would continue until Friday in several areas of the archipelago, where the rainy season usually lasts between November and March.

Indonesia has suffered 1,030 natural disasters in 2021, including earthquakes, floods, landslides, fires and tornadoes, which have accounted for 282 deaths so far, without taking into account the most recent floods. EFE-EPA

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