Singaraja (Antara Bali) - The floods reported to have hit the district of Buleleng, Bali, in recent month was reported to have caused a loss of about Rp2 billion, Buleleng regional disaster mitigation agency (BPBD) said.
In addition, the disaster also brought about two casualties, They were the residents of Gitgit village, Head of BPBD Agency Putu Dana said here on Monday.
He added that the total losses caused by the natural disaster in the region continued to rise while the agency was still making an inventory of the damage.
The figures concerned has not yet included the damage of the houses and public facilities at three hamlets in Tejakula District which was on Sunday evening (Feb 24) attacked by flash floods.
Such landslide which happened at Gitgit hamlet not only killed two residents, but also cut off land transportation from Denpasar to Singaraja through Bedugul area and vise versa.
According to Putu Dana, landslide also struck several hamlets of Subuk, Gesing, Munduk and Lemukih. Such heavy rain pouring down the areas caused the land to be unstable, thus triggered landslide Lemukih village.
Recently, the Bali Provincial Disaster Mitigation Agency warned the public to stay alert for possible floods and landslides in central and northern Bali following days of moderate- to high-intensity rain in the area.
"The most vulnerable areas lie in northern Bali and we have requested the local Public Works Agency to carry out maintenance work on guttering and water channeling infrastructure," agency head, Anom Agustina said.
He revealed that a large number of villages in northern Bali did not have adequate guttering and sewerage networks, a fact that made them more vulnerable to flooding. For instance, the Celukan Bawang area in Buleleng regency has repeatedly being inundated in the past due to its poor water channeling infrastructure.
Agustina disclosed the agency had mapped the island's most vulnerable areas for landslides, which were spread along the island's central region, from Tabanan, Gianyar, Karangasem and the southern part of Buleleng.
The flood-prone areas include the northern part of Buleleng, the southern part of Jembrana, Badung and Denpasar. The map clearly indicates that the resort island¿s poorest regions, such as Buleleng and Karangasem, are also the most disaster-prone regions. (*/T007)