Floods in Demak Submerge 1,400 Ha of Rice Crops, 8,000 Displaced

TEMPO.CO, Demak - Flooding in Demak, Central Java, submerged up to 1,400 hectares of farmers' rice crops. The rice plants are of varying ages and are now at risk of crop failure.

Agus Herawan, the head of the Demak Agriculture and Food Agency, said the flooded area was likely to increase as the floods could spread. “Based on the temporary data, about 1,400 hectares of rice crops have been inundated,” he said on Friday, February 9, 2024.

Agus said the flooding was attributed to an increase in river discharge from upstream. He also pledged to collect data on all affected rice plantation areas to provide assistance in order to ease the burden on farmers.

According to the Demak Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), 30 villages in seven sub-districts were flooded. At least 8,170 people have been evacuated as of Thursday evening.

M. Agus Nugroho Luhur, the Acting Head of the Demak BPBD, said that the number of evacuees included those from Karanganyar District, which was flooded due to the collapse of the Wulan River and Jratun River dams on Thursday morning.

He revealed that the dams broke due to high water discharge. “We are still collecting data,” Agus added.

The flooding in Karanganyar District has also caused disruption to the transportation network, cutting off access between Demak and Kudus.  The water level on this road could reach 1.4 meters.

ANTARA

Click here to get the latest news updates from Tempo on Google News