TANAH DATAR, Indonesia, May 14, (AP): Rescuers on Tuesday searched in rivers and the rubble of devastated villages for bodies, and whenever possible survivors, of flash floods that hit Indonesia’s Sumatra Island over the weekend.
Monsoon rains and a landslide of mud and cold lava from Mount Marapi caused rivers to breach their banks. The deluge tore through mountainside villages in four districts in West Sumatra province just before midnight Saturday.
The floods swept away people and 79 homes and submerged hundreds of houses and buildings, forcing more than 3,300 residents to flee to temporary government shelters, National Disaster Management Agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari said.
The National Search and Rescue Agency said in a statement that 52 bodies had been pulled from mud and rivers by Tuesday, mostly in the worst-hit Agam and Tanah Datar districts, while rescuers are searching for 20 people who are reportedly missing.
Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency said that more downpours were forecast for the West Sumatra province in the coming days, and that the danger of extreme rainfall would continue until next week. The agency recommended the application of weather modification to reduce rain.
National Disaster Management Agency chief Suharyanto said that authorities would start seeding clouds in the province in a bid to prevent further rainfall and flash floods.
"We are deploying weather modification technology starting tomorrow so that rain does not fall during this emergency response period,” Suharyanto, who goes by a single name like many Indonesians, told reporters while visiting devastated areas in Agam district. He added that the emergency response will be ended on May 25.