JAKARTA ~

Some 13,054 houses were flooded in 12 villages in Panimbang and Cikesik sub-districts, Pandeglang District, Banten Province.

“These villages are flooded almost every year as they are located in flood prone areas,” Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, said here, Tuesday.

The floods, which have affected 21,528 people, were triggered by the Cilember River overflowing its banks.

The Pandeglang disaster mitigation agency has distributed relief aid and set up command posts in flood-hit villages.

River and land degradation have contributed to the intensified flooding.

Floods have inundated thousands of houses in 16 districts and cities across Indonesia over the past few days, according to Nugroho.

“As earlier predicted, floods will continue to intensify as we enter January. Rainy season in January has the potential to trigger floods and landslides,” Nugroho noted.

The peak of the rainy season will occur in January until February and likely to trigger floods and landslides, he stated.

The flood-affected districts and cities include Malinau, Langkat, Kudus, Tegal, Demak, Rokan Hilir, Pandeglang, Semarang, Situbondo, Aceh Tamiang, Donggala, Labuan Batu Utara, Tebing Tinggi, Medan, Kupang and Jayapura.

“Although there has been no major flooding, thousands of houses have been inundated in the regions,” he remarked.

In the meantime, floods submerged thousands of houses in the two sub-districts in Langkat District, North Sumatra, following incessant heavy rains on Tuesday.

“Thousands of houses are submerged under floodwaters until now,” Head of Tanjungpura sub-district Surianyo stated.

At least 1.1 thousand houses were flooded in Pekubuan, West Pematang Cengal, Paya Perupuk, Pekan Tanjungpura, and Lalang villages in Tanjungpura Sub-district.

Several hectares of rice fields and rubber and palm oil plantations had been inundated over the past three days. A school in Pekubuan was also flooded.

“The flooding has not subsided. It is even forecast that the water levels will rise due to the heavy rains,” he said.

In Hinai sub-district, Langkat District, some 684 houses were inundated as the flood waters reached a height of up to 50 centimeters.