At least 11 villages in Indonesia have been inundated over the past five days following incessant downpours since last Saturday. The floods, which occurred in Kusan Hulu subdistrict, Tanah Bumbu District, South Kalimantan Province, also damaged paddy fields and cut off transportation routes. Kusan River overflowed and inundated areas along the river's bank as high as over 50 cm. "The flood is due to the river?s overflow. The water has covered 3-km long road," Kusun Subdisctrict Head Hamsuri said. The 11 villages are Goro Panjang, Kapus, Tacakan, Daran Binjai, Binawara, Anjir Baru, Baharangan, Mantap, Sungai Rukem, Lasung, and Teluk Kepayang. Bangkalan Api elementary school was also flooded at a height of 20 cm, forcing the education process to stop. Indonesia is currently in the rainy season which arrived belatedly due to an El Nino-induced drought. Torrential rains have caused flash floods and triggered landslides in the provinces of Aceh, North Sumatra, West Sumatra, Riau, Jambi, North Sulawesi, and Gorontalo last month. Floods triggered by incessant torrential downpours for days in Jakarta and surrounding cities early this month forced over 300,000 people to evacuate to safer areas and killed around 80 people. -- SPA
