Flood survivors struggling to survive

Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post, Ponorogo

Residents affected by the recent floods and landslides in Central and East Java are struggling to survive in unstable surroundings.



Most of them have lost jobs, homes and family members in the disaster.

The floods and landslides took place almost simul-taneously on Dec. 25 and Dec. 26.

The disaster claimed the lives of four people in Ngawi regency, East Java and 67 people in Karanganyar regency in Central Java. Besides the fatalities, the floods and landslides caused damage to hundreds of homes.

The government asserts the disaster was caused by high rainfall, while environmentalists say deforestation also played a key role.

A flood survivor from Mandaan village, Kota district in Ponorogo regency, Mbah Surip, 81, appeared strong in the face of trouble. She was cleaning up mud as much as 10 centimeters thick after her house was hit by a 2 meter flood on Dec. 26. Other residents, too, were busy moving their belongings and cleaning their homes.

Mbah Surip did the work on her own. She has lived alone in this house since the death of her husband 20 years ago.

"I am grateful to be safe from the disaster, although some parts of my house have collapsed and been swept away by the flood," she told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Mbah Surip was asleep when floods struck. It was raining heavily that night and water inundated the village up to knee height. The water gradually rose to the level of her bed, and she awoke and cried out for help.

She had no time to light a candle and save her belongings, since the water was already one meter deep. She waded out into the dark and rain, and was eventually carried by a fellow resident to a double-story house.



"Water rose higher and higher and entered my nose and mouth. I shut my eyes and held tightly to theshoulders while praying," she said.

"At one point I thought I would die. I struggled and am fortunate to be alive," added Mbah Surip.

She never thought a huge flood would swamp her village because such an incident had never happened before in her life.

The Ponorogo regency administration apparently was not prepared for the disaster because it was late providing help to survivors. It had to borrow rubber dinghies from private com-panies and the Indonesian Military.

Due to the delay, the village where Mbah Surip lives was cut off. Rescue workers were hesitant to evacuate survivors there due to swift currents flowing through the village.

Mbah Surip and 200 other villagers, including children and the elderly, were forced to stay at other residents' houses on higher ground. They survived without food for more than two days, and suffered from the cold because their clothes were wet or swept away by floods.

"To stay alive, I and the other residents searched for food, such as vegetables, that had been carried away by the current. We cooked the vegetables and divided them equally," said Mbah Surip.

The flood in Ponorogo has subsided now, but it still poses a risk to other areas, such as Bojonegoro in East Java, due to the overflowing Bengawan Solo River.

Like Ponorogo, there is a shortage of evacuating equipment in Bojonegoro, which is hampering the process of moving people and belongings out of harm's way.

"We face an acute shortage of evacuating equipment and the conditions in shelters are unfavorable due to the lack of medicine, food and clothing. The government has not coordinated the situation well," said a health staffer who is posted in Ponorogo and Ngawi.

The Perak Maritime Meteorological and Geophysics Agency in Surabaya predicted continuing high rainfall until the end of the year.