Indonesia flash floods and landslides cause 43 deaths
Torrential rains and flash floods triggered severe landslides in Banjarnegara, in Central Java. The landslides buried several homes and the flood water engulfed thousands of properties, according to Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for the Indonesian Disaster Management Agency. The death toll rose to 43 with 19 missing and 14 injured. The local authorities put a flood emergency status in place.
A vast, tropical archipelago
Indonesia is an archipelago comprising 17,000 islands housing millions of people living in mountainuous areas or flood-prone plains close to rivers.
Floods hit Western Indonesia
On 17th June, Indonesian floods prompted landslides in the West Sumatra Province. 1 person died, 3 a missing and 500 were evacuated. Th head of the provincial disaster agency said that flood-affected residents found shelters on high ground. "Business activities have been totally paralyzed for about eight hours in Padang city (the capital of the province)", said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, National Disaster Agency spokesman.
The 2014 Indonesia landslide
Two years ago on 13th December, 2014, a landslide occurred in the same Banjarnegara district in Central Java, Indonesia. It caused 93 deaths and 23 people went missing.
Damaged caused by the catastrophe
The worst-hit region of this calamity was the Purworejo district on Central Java's south coast, which witnessed 19 deaths. In an incident where people were trying to clear rubble from a blocked road, a huge landslide struck, and 9 lives were lost. In Banjarnegara, 6 people died in an avalanche of mud. The death toll includes two 10-year olds and a pregnant woman.
Indonesia predisposed to land slides?
Having an entirely tropical climate, water accounts for Indonesia's 81% of area. Indonesia's humidity ranges between 70% to 90%, making it's main variable rainfall and not temperature, or air pressure. Landslides in Indonesia are not uncommon, as the archipelago is prone to natural disasters and torrential rains. In May 2016, 15 students were killed by a landslide that hit their camp in Western Indonesia.
