Floods in Jambi force evacuations JAMBI

The Jakarta Post, Feb 9, 2006:

Floods in Jambi force evacuations JAMBI, Jambi:

Flooding over the past three days has forced hundreds of residents in two districts in Jambi's Bungo regency to evacuate to temporary shelters, but no casualties have been reported. The flooding, sparked by overflow from the nearby Batang Pelepat River after incessant rain over the last seven days, inundated residences in Pelepat and Pelepat Ilir districts to a depth of one to three meters. In addition to affecting residential areas, the floods also inundated hundreds of hectares of rice fields and plantations. "The regency administration has deployed a medical team and sent a ton of rice and dozens of boxes of noodles to the temporary shelters," Hambali, an official in Bungo regency, said Wednesday. "We are anticipating possible outbreaks of diarrhea and other diseases after the flooding," he said. Bungo is the fifth regency in Jambi to be inundated in the last month. Other regencies affected by flooding were Kerinci, Meranging, Muarojambi and Tanjungjabung Timur. The flooding in Jambi has been blamed on forest destruction in the province. Over 1.5 million hectares of forests have been destroyed over the last 10 years, mainly due to illegal logging. According to data from the Warsi non-governmental conservation organization in Jambi, there is currently no more than 500,000 hectares of forest area in Jambi. -- JP