Bandarlampung, Ekuatorial – Heavy rains in Lampung province until Sunday (18/1) have inundated paddy fields, said a local villager.
Puji, a local villager of Gading Rejo, Pringsewu district said that several paddy fields which have entered second planting season was flooded due to three hours of rains. “This is the first time we experiencing floods coming to our houses. The water came from canals. They used to be wide [canals] but they got narrowed,” said Puji adding that floods also hit fishing areas resulting to fishes swam to paddy fields.
Not only floods, at least three houses in Telukbeting Timur district were hit by landslides. Sanah, a local villager, said that her terrace house which was higher than other houses was damaged as its soil was eroded due to heavy rain. “Three days ago, my terrace cracked and we tried to fix it but apparently the soil was too weak so that the terrace fell off and hit three houses beneath our house,” she explained.
Meanwhile, Lampung Disaster Mitigation Agency had mapped out West Lampung, Tanggamus, Pesawaran, and Bandarlampung districts are considered as mild areas affected by natural disasters.
“Areas most vulnerable [to natural disasters] are Liwa – Krui route as many of those areas are prone to landslides and we do not know when those lands will start moving,” said Muhammad Fadli, secretary of Lampung Disaster Mitigation Agency.
Furthermore, Fadli suggested for people to avoid the route during rainy season. “In addition, people should also not throw waste to anticpate flood,” he said adding that floods and landslides were still in small scale in the province and can be handled by local institutions. “However, we are at provincial level still ready to assist local needs.” Eni Muslihah
