Most of 338 families, or 1,267 residents, chose to stay at their flooded houses after the floods swept through the villages at the weekend, acting chief of the Aceh Provincial Disaster Mitigation Board Teuku Ahmad Dedek said here on Monday.
"So far, 104 families, or 402 residents, have evacuated (to higher ground), including 65 families or 251 people from Lhok Raya in Trumon Tengah who are being sheltered at the Detachment Company B of the National Police`s Mobile Brigade (Brimob) unit. The residents included 14 senior citizens, 24 children under 5, 8 infants, 10 breastfeeding mothers, and 2 pregnant women," he noted.
He stated that 10 families, or 50 residents, of Lhok Raya village have been taking refuge at their relatives` houses.
Meanwhile, 14 families, or 45 residents, of Cot Bay village, including eight children under five and two babies, have been taking refuge in neighboring Jambo Papeun village.
Most of the houses in Trumon Raya were submerged by floodwater of 1.5 meters to two meters high, including Cot Bayu and Ladang Rimba in Central Trumon. The floods also submerged Tapaktuan-Medan highway in Ladang Rimba, North Sumatra, at a height of 1.5 meters.
"In Seuneubok Pusaka and Titi Poben, East Trumon, floodwater reached two to three meters high. However, residents refused to evacuate. Instead, they stayed at higher ground in their respective villages," he remarked.
"We have set up a public kitchen in each of evacuation camps and prepared rubber boats in flood-affected areas to evacuate residents who are ready to flee," he explained.
The local meteorology, climatology, and geophysics station has urged residents to stay alert for floods triggered by high rainfalls in the next few days in Aceh.
Reporting by Muhammad Said
Editing by Suharto, Sri Haryati
Reporter: antara
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2018
