Samarinda flood victims turn to social media for help

A number of flood-affected residents in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, decided to ask for help on social media when no rescue team had reached their respective areas four days into the calamity.

The Facebook account of Sultan Daeng Siila, for example, asked Samarinda Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD Samarinda) personnel to rescue his family from a 120-centimeter-deep flood that trapped them on Jl. Pemuda in the city. The family included an infant, Sultan added.

Another Facebook account belonging to a resident named Yulis said several infants and elderly people were trapped on Jl. S. Parman and they were in dire need of food and medical supplies.

A top official at BPBD Samarinda, Irfan, vowed to follow up on the reports.

"We'll check up on them up later. We have many volunteers to help with the evacuation process," he said on Monday as quoted by kompas.com.

Heavy rain that hit Samarinda over the weekend left numerous areas of East Kalimantan's capital flooded. Nearly 32,000 people spread across four districts in the city were affected by the disaster. Some 600 of them have been evacuated so far. 

Authorities revealed that 16 out of 21 nursing homes in the city were inundated. At least 60 senior citizens had to be evacuated to other nursing homes in the form of rumah panggung (stilt houses). 

"If the water keeps rising, we will evacuate all of the elderly residents to a nursing home on Jl. DI Pandjaitan, where we have enough room," East Kalimantan Social Agency head Agus Hari Kesuma said separately in a statement. (vny)