By RIA Novosti,
Jakarta : More than 11,000 people have been forced to flee their homes and move to higher ground in the northern part of Sulawesi, Indonesian media reported Tuesday.
Gorontalo, the capital of the eponymous province, was flooded on Sunday following heavy rains. The water level in the city is currently between 0.5 and 2 meters (1.6 and 6.5 feet) with all major buildings inundated.
“At the moment 11,335 people are in temporary shelters as water levels continue to rise,” Rustam S Pakaya, head of the Health Ministry’s Crisis Control Center was quoted as saying by China’s Xinhua news agency.
Indonesia’s national Antara news agency said floods have been reported in other Sulawesi provinces, along with the islands of Kalimantan and Sumatra.
In the Central Sulawesi province, some 18 people were injured and one was reported missing. In addition, downpours triggered a landslide which blocked the trans-Sulawesi highway and buried seven houses in the Tolitoli district of the province. No casualties have been reported.
In the North Sumatra province, flooding killed two people were killed and injured 91.