A tropical cyclone ‘Cempaka’ landed on Indonesia’s main island of Java killed 41 people, the country’s disaster agency said from Java, more than double the initial toll, with tens of thousands displaced by severe flooding and landslides. Among the victims of the cyclone were 25 people killed by a single landslide in east Java. The initial cyclone death toll was only 20.
Some 28,000 people have been displaced by the storm, which hit Indonesia’s most populous island on December 6th. Almost five thousand homes have been damaged, and more than three thousand others were inundated by flooding,” said an agency spokesman. Emergency status has been declared up to Dec. 11 and it may be extended, he added.
Emergency relief aids including medicine, foods, baby foods and others have been channelled into the affected persons
Cempaka has moved away from Indonesia, but warnings that more flooding and landslides still could happen have been issued.
Indonesia is prone to natural disasters and is often hit by floods and landslides.
A landslide on Bali in February killed 12 people, including three children. In September last year, almost 30 people died in devastating floods and landslides in Garut, West Java.
For further information visit Indonesia’s National Agency for Disaster Management
Image shows the water levels created by Cyclone Cempaka. Photograph supplied by the author.
