27 March 2017•Update: 28 March 2017
By Ainur Rohmah
TUBAN, Indonesia
Flooding in Indonesia’s Sumatra island has left at least five people dead and forced hundreds of villagers to flee their homes.
Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, National Disaster Management Agency spokesman, told Anadolu Agency on Monday that the floods caused by torrential rains since Sunday caused the Batang Ayumi River in North Sumatra province to overflow, inundating houses near the riverbank.
Six districts in the province have been affected, damaging at least 34 houses and sweeping away seven cars.
"The local disaster agency reported that more than 400 residents have been evacuated to safe places such as courts and mosques," Nugroho said.
He added that the local government has deployed rescue teams to evacuate victims.
Last month, landslides and flooding killed at least 12 people on the Indonesian island of Bali.
Seasonal rains often cause flooding and landslides in the country, which is comprised of a chain of 17,000 islands where millions of people live in mountainous areas or flood-prone plains close to rivers.
According to the national agency, at least 1,985 disasters occurred during 2016, killing a total of 375 people -- the worst death toll for 10 years.
