Medan, N Sumatra (ANTARA News) - Several hundreds of families in Tanjung Anom village, Deli Serdang district, in the outskirt of Medan city, North Sumatra, were trapped inside their flood-hit houses for hours on Thursday morning.

Thanks to the quick responses of hundreds of rescue workers and servicemen from the Bukit Barisan military command, they could gradually be evacuated by rubber boats from the flood zone, ANTARA reported from the flood-hit village.

The height of the flood waters inundating more than a thousand houses in the village and its surrounding areas had reached three meters.

Some of the flood survivors who suffered physical weakness were rushed to Adam Malik general hospital for having medical treatment.

Rescue workers said this Thursday morning`s flash floods might be triggered by the damages of two dikes of a river near Tanjung Anom village due to heavy rainfalls since Wednesday evening.

The overflowing of the river whose downstream reached Sunggal and Kelambir Lima hamlet areas had risen the height of flood waters up to four meters.

As a result, several thousand houses in the neighborhood areas of Gaperta Ujung, Kampung Lalang, Kelambir Lima and Hamparan Perak were submerged.

The flood waters had also paralyzed the flows of vehicles and people from those areas to Medan, North Sumatra province`s capital city.

A local resident named Ali told ANTARA that the height of flood waters in the area of Blok Lima Pabrik Kapur, Kelambir Lima hamlet, Tanjung Gusta subdistrict, had reached one meter.

The overflowing of Denai river had also brought flooding to several hundreds of houses but there were no reports of fatalities in this natural disaster.

Over the past year, Indonesia has been undergoing an extreme weather phenomenon, which partly characterizes with heavy rains and whirlwinds.

As the consequences of the torrential rains and whirlwinds, various vulnerable parts of the country have experienced flash floods and landslides.

On January 2, flash floods also hit four villages in Kedungwuni subdistrict, Pekalongan district, Central Java. Two houses were destroyed and tens of others got damaged.

The floods hit the villages of Pakis Putih, Kranji, Sastrodirejan, and Siberuk following torrential rainfalls that triggered the overflowing of Singkarang river after its dike in Kedungwuni subdistrict`s area got damaged.

Since last year, heavy floods have posed a serious threat in many parts of Indonesia.
In December 2010 alone, floods inundated some villages in Cilacap (Central Java) as well as Lombok Timur and Dompu (West Nusa Tenggara).

In October 2010, Wasior town in Teluk Wondama, West Papua Province was struck by flash floods, killing at least 150 people.
(*)

Editor: Bambang
Copyright © ANTARA 2011