Tsunami survivors face another whammy as floodwater swamps homes

Police personnel help residents collect pieces of a collapsed house at Carita Beach in Pandeglang, Banten, on Wednesday. The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) reported that the tsunami, which was triggered by Mount Anak Krakatau eruptions, left at least 430 people dead, 1,495 injured, 159 missing and 21,991 displaced. (The Jakarta Post/Dhoni Setiawan )

JAKARTA — Just four days after the Sunda Strait tsunami devastated homes in Serang, Banten, floodwater engulfed two villages in the regency on Wednesday, inundating about 200 homes and displacing 1,818 people.

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) attributed the 1-meter-deep floodwater to the Cikalumpang River, which overflowed as a result of heavy rain.

“No fatalities have been recorded. Personnel from the agency’s Serang office along with the TNI [Indonesian Military] and National Police are relocating residents and providing necessities,” BNPB spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said in a release.

Sutopo said Serang was among regencies in the province prone to natural disasters, including floods, drought and earthquake.

“Any development [in Serang] should take into account the disaster hazard map during the spatial planning,” he said.

Authorities and volunteers continued their search for missing people on Wednesday, with at least 154 people thought to have been swept away by the tsunami, which was triggered by the eruption of Mount Anak Krakatau. The tsunami struck coastal areas of Lampung and Banten on Saturday evening, killing at least 430 and injuring more than 1,400 people.

“We have also started cleaning the area of tsunami debris,” Sutopo said.