Authorities said Wednesday that at least 58 died in flash floods in Indonesia’s West Sumatra province. The search for 35 people who are still missing as a result of flash floods and mudslides.
Heavy rain on Saturday evening caused flash floods, landslides, and cold lava flow ( a mud-like mixture of volcanic ash, rock debris, and water) in three districts and one town in West Sumatra province.
The cold lava flow, known by the Indonesian word lahar, originated at Mount Marapi, one of Sumatra’s most active volcanoes. In December, Mount Marapi erupted, killing more than 20 people. A series of eruptions have occurred since then.
In a statement, BNPB head Suharyanto stated, “The national disaster and management agency BNPB will focus the search for the missing people in areas near rivers and clean the main roads from the large rocks, debris, and mud brought by the floods”.
A Video posted by BNPB shows logs, rocks, and mud strewn over roads in the Tanah Datar district, as well as some collapsed bridges and houses.
Residents, assisted by local rescuers, police, and military were removing dirt from houses and mosques. In some settlements, excavators were deployed to remove large rocks and trees.
At least 249 dwellings, 225 hectares (556 acres) of land, including rice fields, 19 bridges, and the majority of the main roads were damaged in three districts and one town.
Indonesia’s meteorology agency BMKG stated that it planned to try to mitigate a heavy rainfall forecast in West Sumatra during the next week by cloud seeding to prevent rains in the most vulnerable districts.
Cloud seeding, which is widely utilized in Indonesia, involves shooting salt flares into clouds to trigger rainfall in dry areas.
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