Indonesia tsunami survivors face another whammy as flood waters swamp homes

Remote video URL
VIDEO: REUTERS
Residents walk among debris after the tsunami at Labuan in Pandeglang, Banten province, Indonesia, on Dec 26, 2018. PHOTO: REUTERS
The authorities and volunteers continued their search for missing people on Wednesday, with at least 154 people thought to have been swept away by the tsunami, which was triggered by the eruption of Mount Anak Krakatau. PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG

JAKARTA (THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Just four days after the tsunami devastated homes in Serang in the Indonesian province of Banten, flood waters engulfed two villages in the regency on Wednesday (Dec 26), inundating about 200 homes and displacing 1,818 people.

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) attributed the 1m-deep flood waters to the Cikalumpang River, which overflowed as a result of heavy rain.

"No fatalities have been recorded. Personnel from the agency's Serang office along with the TNI (Indonesian Military) and National Police are relocating residents and providing necessities," BNPB spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said in a statement.

Dr Sutopo said Serang was among regencies in the province prone to natural disasters, including floods, drought and earthquakes.

"Any development (in Serang)should take into account the disaster hazard map during the spatial planning," he said.

The authorities and volunteers continued their search for missing people on Wednesday, with at least 154 people thought to have been swept away by the tsunami, which was triggered by the eruption of Mount Anak Krakatau. The tsunami struck coastal areas of Lampung and Banten last Saturday evening, killing at least 430 and injuring more than 1,400 people.

"We have also started cleaning the area of tsunami debris," Dr Sutopo said.

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.