"The flood victims are taking refuge in evacuee tents, mosques, hotels and so on," Head of Karawang Social Affairs and Disaster Mitigation Office Rochuyun A. Santosa said on Tuesday.
He said the floods were triggered by heavy rains, which caused several large rivers to overflow.
Some of the villages have been flooded in the past week.
Data from the Karawang Social Service and Disaster Mitigation Office show the floods have been affecting tens of thousands of houses at 146 villages.
"The number of residents who fall victim to the floods this time reaches about 185 thousand," he said.
The Karawang district administration has declared a state of emergency following floods that affected 25 sub-districts in the past few days.
The state of emergency will last for 14 days starting Sunday (January 19), Karawang district head H. Ade Swara said in a press statement released on Tuesday.
He expressed hope that the district disaster coordination unit (Satkorlak) personnel would always be on standby after the district had been put under a state of emergency.
The Satkorlak command post in Karawang is centered at the social service and disaster mitigation office. The post is open around the clock.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2014
