Floods in Kolaka district, Southeast Sulawesi province, since Monday (May 9) has inundated seven villages in the area with the flood waters reaching up to 50 centimeters to two meters high. There had been no report on casualties, but material loss had been predicted to reach hundreds of million rupiah, ANTARA reported. Vice regent of Kolaka district Amir Sahaka said on Monday the seven flooded villages were Gunung Jaya, Wande, Dangia, Poleag, Ladongi, Pungoloko and Tokai. "The flood waters reached up to two meters high. The flood caused panic among the villagers, since it struck when they were sound asleep at midnight," he said adding that two villages Tokai and Pungloko became isolated after a bridge collapsed due to strong current. Apart from heavy rain, Amir said, illegal logging might also have been the cause of the floods inundating the houses and hundreds of hectares of rice field and cacao plantations in the seven villages. Social welfare and medical personnel had sent food supplies such as rice, instant noodle and canned fish to the villagers.
