Jakarta (EFE).- At least six people have died in Indonesia, two of them on the tourist island of Bali, due to flooding caused by heavy rainfall that continued Wednesday, as authorities searched for four missing people, local search and rescue agency Basarnas said.
Abdul Muhari, head of the Basarnas Disaster Data, Information, and Communication Center, said that heavy flooding caused the deaths of two residents in the Jembrana regency, southwest of Bali, on Tuesday night.
Indonesia’s quintessential tourist destination, Bali, has been experiencing heavy rainfall since Tuesday night, and several areas have suffered flooding, including the southern regencies of Jembrana, Gianyar, Tabanan, and Klungkung, and the Balinese capital, Denpasar, home to one of the country’s main international airports.
At least 207 families have been affected in Bali by the accumulation of water, which has led to the evacuation of 85 people, including children and the elderly, according to authorities.
The work of rescue teams was hampered because many access roads were flooded, Nyoman Sidakarya, head of Denpasar’s search and rescue agency, said.
The government agency also confirmed that four people lost their lives and four others are missing in the province of Nusa Tenggara, east of Bali.
Bali remained at potential risk of moderate to extreme rainfall (between 50 and 150 millimeters of precipitation per day) on Wednesday, accompanied by thunderstorms, according to the Indonesian meteorological agency, which forecasts a more moderate outlook for the rest of the week.
People in affected areas have been warned about possible hydrometeorological hazards, including flooding, flash floods, and landslides, and told by local authorities to evacuate immediately at any sign of danger before conditions worsen. EFE
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