ACEH BRACING FOR MORE FLOODS, LANDSLIDES

Banda Aceh, Nov 28 (ANTARA) - The Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) on Friday warned the people of Aceh province of more floods and landslides because rainfall in the near future would remain high.
"People in flood-prone areas should remain alert to the possibility of more floods and landslides because rain with medium to high intensity will continue to fall all over the province in the near future," Blang Bintang Meteorology and Geophysics Agency spokesman Syamsuir said here on Friday.
He said heavy rain would continue to fall for several more days across Aceh province.
"The city of Banda Aceh and other areas in the province in the past few days were swamped by heavy rains, triggering floods and landslides," Syamsuir said.
Last week, more than 1,125 people in South Aceh district were evacuated to temporary shelters following flash floods triggered by days of torrential rain.
Aceh provincial social service office spokesman Bukhari said thousands of houses in Seunebok Pusaka and Cot Bayu villages in Trumon Timur sub district, South Aceh, were inundated by flood waters after the heavy rain caused Gelombang river between the two villages to overflow.
The flood waters also inundated or damaged thousands of houses in the districts of Southeast Aceh, Aceh Singkil, Aceh Jaya, West Aceh, Nagan Raya, and South Aceh.
Bukhari said the flood waters started to inundate thousands of houses in the six districts after several rivers there burst their banks.
Three months ago, three districts, namely Aceh Jaya, West Aceh, and Nagan Raya on the west coast of the province were inundated by flash floods which were triggered by days of torrential rains.
Hundreds of people were then forced to abandon their homes but luckily there was no fatality in the flood disaster.
"We always remind the people in flood-prone areas to remain alert in every rainy season," Bukhari said.