Severe Flood Hits Bali Just Weeks Before G20 Summit

Liputan6.com, Bali - Bali is preparing to host a series of peak events for the G20 Presidency in November 2022. Unfortunately, a number of infrastructures, such as bridges and roads, have been cut off or damaged as a result of floods and landslides due to recent extreme rains.

Head of the Regional Disaster Management Authority of Bali Province (BPBD Bali), I Made Rentin reported that six persons died after flash floods and landslides hit Bali in the last few days.

"A number of victims who died are six. Three at Karangasem regency, one at Bangli, one at Tabanan, and one at Jembrana," said Rentin, Tuesday (18/10).

Based on information from BPBD Bali, the bridge connecting Tegal Cangkring-Penyaringan village on Jembrana was cut off. Traffic jams also occurred on the Gilimanuk-Denpasar route due to the accumulation of logs and overflowing streams of the Bilukpoh river, Jembrana.

Operation Control Center (Pusdalops) of BPBD Bali also informed the impact of extreme weather occurred on Karangasem, Bangli, Tabanan, and Badung regency.

In Tri Bhuana village, Abang, Karangasem regency, the access road was buried by landslides. It is estimated that 96 houses are isolated and can only be passed on foot. For Bangli Regency, high-intensity rainfall also triggered landslides that closed road access.

Meanwhile, in Tabanan Regency, a victim died in the Baturiti district after a landslide struck the house.

Pusdalops Bali also informed that landslides and floods hit Badung Regency. Some impacts of the disaster are fallen trees and damaged infrastructure of houses or bridges.

For example, in the Abiansemal district, Badung regency, there were fallen trees and damaged bridges in seven locations; and in the Mengwi District, there were damaged bridges and fallen trees in nine locations.

The extreme weather in Bali still has to be watched out for. According to the Meteorological, Climatological, and Geophysical Agency (BMKG) report, almost all areas on that island of Gods are potentially exposed to moderate to heavy rainfall.

Those areas include the Nusa Dua area in Badung regency, Bali, the place which will host the peak event of the G20 Summit.

Meanwhile, similar disasters also occurred in East Java in the last few days. Flash floods with a height of 1.75 meters submerged the city center and several districts in the Trenggalek regency. Thousands of residents have been evacuated.

There have been no reports of casualties in that hydrometeorological disaster. However, losses due to flooding are estimated to reach tens of billions considering that many houses were submerged, infrastructure was damaged, and agricultural areas were flooded, and it resembled a lake.

BPBD's Secretary in Trenggalek, Tri Puspita Sari, informed the flood had submerged a number of villages in Trenggalek, Karangan, Gandusari, and Pogalan districts on Tuesday.

The evacuation process continues to be carried out by Basarnas together with TNI/Polri officers, Satpol PP, and hundreds of volunteers from various elements of society.

Weather conditions that tend to be wet made residents worried about the next floods.

The impact of the flood also caused traffic flow to and from the city center to be completely cut off.

Many vehicles from the direction of Tulungagung, especially public transportation, choose to stop and park on the side of the road to wait for the flood to recede.

Moreover, the Hospital of dr. Soedomo Trenggalek was forced to close outpatient services and evacuate dozens of inpatients on the first floor due to flooding that entered a number of rooms there.

On the other regency, BPBD Blitar noted that flooding in the Blitar regency hit up to five districts with 13 locations. Around 465 residents were displaced due to the incident.

"There are 1,094 families affected and 465 residents displaced, this could increase. This is in Sutojayan," said Head of BPBD Blitar Ivong Bettryanto quoted from Antara, Tuesday (18/10/2022).

Ivong explained that the flood did not occur because of the delivery of water from Malang, but because of the high intensity of the rain. Floods occurred in a number of areas, including Sutojayan, Panggungrejo, Binangun, and Kademangan districts.

According to him, the severe flooding in the Sutojayan district occurred in Sutojayan village.

"In Sutojayan, it is up to one meter, so residents were evacuated to a safer place. The location is at the village office as well as the emergency public kitchen," he said.

Ivong also mentioned, there were no casualties in this flood. Meanwhile, for livestock that drifted or died, his team has not yet received the report.

In this disaster, not only houses and public facilities were affected by the flood. It was reported that 33 livestock were swept away, 2500 hens were killed, and seven cages were damaged.

BPBD Blitar continues to be prepared for this disaster. BPBD Blitar has provided eight rubber boats and is still combing the flooded area. They also coordinate with various agencies related to the health of the citizens.

Dozens of houses in RT/RW 01 Wonosari Sobo, Banyuwangi is still flooded. The water still pooled up to an adult's thigh.

The Head of Sobo village Yudi Setiawan said a total of 30 houses were submerged. In the area, it takes a long time to recede because of its low location and close proximity to the coast.

"There are 30 houses consisting of 29 families (KK) that are still submerged until now," he explained on Tuesday.

Some residents chose to take refuge in their relatives' houses. 

"Initially, the water level was about 70 centimeters or above the thighs of adults. While for the time being it is still submerged with a height of about 50 centimeters as high as the knees of adults," said Yudi.

He explained that the water submerged the houses of residents in the Wonosari neighborhood is expected to recede next week. This is because the location of the residents is the last point or downstream of the river's flow.

Yudi added that all houses of affected residents have received ready-to-eat food supplies from the relief post (posko).

Writer: Safinatun Nikmah

Huyogo Simbolon, Hermawan Arifianto, and Maulandy Rizky Bayu Kencana contributed to the article.