Bali flooding prompts tourist evacuation: Official
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People move their belongings through the water on an inundated street amid floods following heavy rain at Legian Kuta near Denpasar on Indonesia's resort island of Bali on Feb 24.
PHOTO: AFP
BADUNG, Indonesia - Flooding in parts of Indonesia’s popular resort island of Bali prompted hundreds of people, including dozens of tourists, to seek safety, a local disaster official said on Feb 24.
Intense rains triggered flooding since late Feb 23 across several Bali districts and the provincial capital city of Denpasar, said local disaster mitigation agency senior official I Gede Agung Teja Bhusana Yadnya.
There were no fatalities, he said.
Waters inundated facilities such as cafes and gas station in the Badung district and forced some tourists to be evacuated on rubber boats.
“We are here to visit Bali Zoo... so we were trying to visit the elephants but due to this condition we couldn’t do this,” 28-year-old Mexican national Briana Palacios told AFP.
Local residents move hotel guests using a rubber boat through the water on an inundated street amid floods following heavy rain at Legian Kuta near Denpasar on Indonesia's resort island of Bali on Feb 24.
PHOTO: AFP
Dr Gede told AFP that about 30 foreign tourists were evacuated from the flooding on Feb 24, noting that some tourists moved to other hotels or later returned to their accommodations.
In total, about 350 people temporarily sought safety amid rising waters on Feb 24, Dr Gede said, adding that most of the people returned to their homes as waters receded.
Torrential rains also forced two international flights to Bali’s airport to be diverted earlier on Feb 23, while three other departures from the airport were delayed, an airport spokesman said in a statement.
In September, a flash flood that struck parts of Bali
