JAKARTA – Indonesian authorities raised on Friday the number of people killed due to floods, landslides and strong winds in the southern part of the island of Sulawesi to 59, while 25 people were missing.
Another 47 people have been injured, while 3,481 people have been displaced, Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) said.
Rainfall caused by a severe storm on Tuesday in the southern part of the island has also led to flooding of nearly 5,000 houses with water levels touching two meters (6.6 feet), BNPB spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.
In addition, the rains destroyed 10 bridges, damaged more than 16 kilometers (9.9 miles) of roads and affected nearly 12,000 hectares of farmland, as well as several religious and educational centers in 106 towns that were affected.
Search and rescue teams recorded the highest number of fatalities in Gowa with 44, followed by Jeneponto, with 10, Maros, with four, and Pangkep, with one.
Forty-five deaths were caused by floods, while landslides accounted for the remaining 14.
The BNPB spokesperson said that the authorities were continuing to assist the thousands of people displaced and affected by providing them with tents, blankets and food.
He added that water levels had begun to recede in several areas.
The provincial government of South Sulawesi on Thursday announced a sum of 1 billion rupiah ($70,600) for emergency and recovery efforts.
Floods and landslides hit Indonesia every year during the rainy season, which lasts from December to February.
The severe rains and floods have heaped more misery on the island of Sulawesi as it continues to recover from a massive earthquake and tsunami which struck last September.
More than 2,200 people died, with over 1,000 people missing and tens of thousands more displaced and injured.
The Sulawesi magnitude-7.5 earthquake followed another magnitude-6.3 tremor which hit the tourist island of Lombok in August, in which 563 people died, while more than 1,000 were injured. More than 417,000 people were displaced.
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