DENPASAR, Indonesia – Rescuers have initiated extensive search efforts in rivers and the debris of severely impacted villages following catastrophic flash floods that struck two provinces in Indonesia on Wednesday, with the water levels starting to recede on Thursday.
Beginning on Monday, torrential rains unleashed devastating flooding and landslides across the popular tourist island of Bali and the East Nusa Tenggara province. The calamity has resulted in at least 15 fatalities, with 10 individuals reported missing. The sudden surge of rain led rivers to overflow, impacting nine major cities and districts within Bali, accompanied by mud, rocks, and trees cascading onto hillside villages.
As conditions improved on Thursday, residents in Denpasar, the capital of Bali, emerged from congested emergency shelters, greeted by streets coated in mud and debris. The aftermath revealed overturned vehicles in parks, collapsed structures in narrow alleyways, and personal belongings such as sandals, pots, pans, and old photographs scattered across the sidewalks.
With water levels stabilizing, authorities promptly began the cleanup process, removing mud and debris while restoring electricity to tens of thousands of homes and businesses. Officials noted that Indonesia frequently experiences heavy seasonal rainfall, particularly between September and March, often leading to catastrophic flooding and landslides.
Suharyanto, the head of Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency, announced during a news conference that the immediate flood threat in Bali had concluded. The floodwaters had devastating implications, sweeping away both residents and approximately 474 kiosks and small shops, resulting in at least six confirmed deaths and submerging numerous houses, which forced over 800 individuals to seek refuge in temporary government shelters.
To bolster rescue operations, around 600 personnel, including rescue workers, police, and soldiers, were deployed starting Wednesday to locate six missing individuals in Bali. The situation in East Nusa Tenggara was similarly dire, where rescuers were diligently searching along a river near the remote village of Mauponggo, focusing their efforts on finding four individuals, two of whom are toddlers, swept away along with 35 destroyed homes.
Local police chief Dewa Putu Suariawan confirmed that six villagers had been successfully rescued from floodwaters and mud on Wednesday. Agustinus Pone, head of the Local Disaster Mitigation Agency, emphasized that the combination of severe weather conditions and challenging terrain significantly hampered the rescue operations, further complicated by disruptions to electricity, clean water, and telecommunications services in 18 affected villages.
The flooding and subsequent landslides have also inflicted substantial damage on local infrastructure, destroying two bridges, two government offices, a plantation, and rice fields, as well as resulting in the loss of livestock. The extensive emotional and economic toll of this natural disaster has prompted a robust response from local and national agencies aimed at recovering from the devastation.
