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As many as 16 people have been killed in flash floods and landslides that hit Indonesia’s eastern province of North Sulawesi after hours of heavy rainfall, said officials on Tuesday.

Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said Sitaro Islands Regency was flooded at around 2:30 a.m. local time on Monday, with torrents of water, mud, and rocks sweeping through residential areas and inundating and damaging homes and government offices while people were sleeping.

 

Also Read: Southeast Asia floods: Death toll touches 2,230

 

Officials from the BNPB said five people were missing, while 17 others were reported injured as nearly 102 residents were uprooted from the affected region. Rescue and relief teams had sprung into action as they attempted to locate the missing and rescue those in the midst of flooding in the island that has borne the worst brunt of extreme weather in recent times.

Reports suggest floodwaters had largely receded by Monday afternoon, which helped search teams access previously cut-off areas. However, with electricity and telecommunications networks affected in several villages, rescue efforts were difficult to coordinate in the flood-hit communities.

 

Authorities have said that disaster response units, along with military personnel, police, and local volunteers, had been deployed to help in the evacuation. Meanwhile, relief material, including clean water, food, medicines, and shelter support, was being mobilised to assist the affected population, they added.

 

“We called on residents to remain alert as further rainfall could raise the risk of additional flooding or landslides,” said Kalangit, who added that heavy equipment and relief supplies were sent by the provincial government.

 

Catastrophic floods and landslides in December struck 52 cities and regencies earlier on Sumatra, Indonesia's largest island, leaving 1,178 people dead and more than 7,000 injured, with 148 residents missing as of Tuesday, the National Disaster Management Agency said.

 

Weather agencies in the country have urged communities in landslide-prone areas to remain alert as the rainy season persists.