Indonesia flash floods kill at least 16 people

MANADO, Indonesia (AP) — Flash floods triggered by torrential rain killed at least 16 people in Indonesia’s North Sulawesi province, officials said Tuesday.

Days of monsoon rain burst riverbanks early Monday, triggering fast-moving torrents of water mixed with mud, rocks and debris that swept away people and submerged villages in Siau Tagulandang Biaro District, said Abdul Muhari, a spokesperson for the National Disaster Management Agency.

Emergency rescue personnel supported by police and the military deployed to four devastated villages on Siau, a tiny island about 130 kilometers (80 miles) off the northern tip of Sulawesi, Indonesia’s fourth-largest island. In some places, access was hampered by damaged roads and disrupted communications, Muhari said.

At least seven houses were washed away and more than 140 homes were damaged when the deluge surged down hillsides. The flooding forced more than 680 residents into temporary shelters in churches and public buildings, Muhari said.

As weather improved and floodwaters receded Tuesday, rescuers recovered 16 bodies and were searching for another three missing residents in areas where entire neighborhoods had been inundated, said Nuriadian Gumeleng, a North Sulawesi search and rescue office spokesman.

Sitaro District Chief Chyntia Ingrid Kalangit declared a 14-day emergency response period beginning Monday to speed the delivery of aid, evacuations and infrastructure repairs after the flooding that injured 25 people.

“We called on residents to remain alert as further rainfall could raise the risk of additional flooding or landslides,” said Kalangit, who added that heavy equipment and relief supplies were sent by the provincial government.

Catastrophic floods and landslides in December struck 52 cities and regencies earlier on Sumatra, Indonesia’s largest island, leaving 1,178 people dead and more than 7,000 injured, with 148 residents missing as of Tuesday, the National Disaster Management Agency said.