Heavy Rains Trigger Flash Floods in Indonesia; 11 Missing

Residents and rescuers hunt for victims astatine the ruin of a location pursuing a flash flood successful Batu, East Java, Indonesia, connected Nov. 4, 2021. (Hendra Permana/AP Photo)

JAKARTA, Indonesia—Torrential rains triggered flash floods connected Indonesia’s main land of Java connected Thursday that near astatine slightest 11 radical missing, officials said.

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency said rivers connected the slopes of Mount Arjuno overflowed their banks and inundated 5 hamlets successful Kota Batu, a metropolis successful East Java province. It said 15 radical were swept distant and 4 were aboriginal rescued.

The bureau chief, Ganip Warsito, said dense rains are expected to proceed and summation until February, partially due to the fact that of a La Nina upwind pattern.

Rescuers are inactive searching for the 11 missing people, said Achmad Choirur Rochim, caput of the exigency alleviation part astatine the section catastrophe agency. Relief efforts were hampered by powerfulness outages and blocked roads covered with heavy mud and debris.

Photos and videos released by the bureau showed a damaged bridge, and cars and houses covered successful heavy mud.

Authorities were inactive collecting accusation astir harm and imaginable casualties, Warsito said.

Seasonal rains often origin flooding and landslides successful Indonesia, an archipelago of 17,000 islands wherever millions of radical unrecorded successful mountainous areas oregon adjacent fertile flood plains.