29 Killed In Indonesia Floods

Torrential rain floods kill 29 people in Indonesia with a dozen more reportedly  still missing said officials on Monday.

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Especially during the monsoon season, when rains hit the vast Southeast Asian archipelago which is usually between October and April, landslides and floods are common.

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Indonesia’s disaster agency confirmed 29 deaths on Monday saying at least 13 more people were missing after days of pounding storms on the island of Sumatra.

Some 12,000 others have been evacuated from water-logged Bengkulu province with hundreds of buildings, bridges and roads damaged.

According to reports, the Bengkulu Tengah district, just outside of the provincial capital, was the hardest hit with 22 people killed along with hundreds of livestock.

Authorities have set up temporary shelters and public kitchens for the evacuees.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, a landslide triggered by heavy rain in Sumatra’s Lampung province killed a family of six and disrupted transportation links to neighbouring regions.

Flooding in parts of the capital Jakarta during the week killed at least two people and forced more than 2,000 to evacuate their homes.

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Residents of Bogor, a satellite city of Jakarta, also had to contend with 14 pythons that were set loose from a private property due to the high waters.

Six of the snakes – which were as long as four metres – have been found, but the remaining eight remain on the loose, officials said at the weekend.

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In Sumatra, authorities said that illegal coal mining was partly to blame for deadly landslides as the practice makes loose soil susceptible to slides when heavy rains hit.

Head of disaster agency, Doni Monardo told reporters in Bengkulu on Monday: “Apart from natural factors like the heavy rain,(the flooding) was also caused by human activity that destroys the environment.” 

Activists have long warned deforestation from rampant mining in the province could trigger a catastrophe.

Due to environmental damage near their banks, at least four major rivers in Bengkulu overflow every time it rains.

“The flooding in Bengkulu was made worse by the severe damage…caused by coal mining,”said Ali Akbar from local environmental group Kanopi Bengkulu in a statement. 

Illegal mining was blamed for killing dozens on the island of Sulawesi in March when a makeshift mine collapsed.

Some 112 people died and more than 90 remain missing last month after torrential rains pounded Indonesia’s Papua region, triggering landslides and flash floods.

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