Like a wall of water, a flash flood in late June wiped everything in its path in North Konawe, Southeast Sulawesi. Local village elderlies used to say, “If the mountain is gone, the water will have no place to live.” This turned out to be true, as the flash flood dragged away everything.
The sun was not yet high when Kokoh, 64, was drenched with sweat after lifting his belongings in Puuwanggudu village, Asera district. Chairs, a cupboard and a mattress were put neatly side-by-side on the front yard. All of them had been washed clean. A wrecked television, fridge and washing machine had also been cleaned.
On Saturday (22/6/2019) morning, Kokoh cleaned his belonging, which had been inundated in floodwater and mud. He had cleaned his living room from mud, but four floor tiles were missing.
Previously, the mud had been thigh-high in his living room. Almost everything inside was inundated.
“The water rose quickly when the second flood arrived,” said the father of four.
The flash flood hit on Friday (7/6) evening. A previous flood had inundated the village, along with dozens of other surrounding ones, for four days. Water was 50 centimeter high inside Kokoh’s house, similar to the 1977 flash flood.
Flood had receded on Friday morning and men had begun to return home from the shelters. The women, along with children and teenage girls, remained at the shelters.
I tried to use a boat to enter my home, but the water had reached the roof and the current was strong.
The men were bringing down their families’ belongings from high spots inside their houses when muddy water hit the village at nighttime.
Kokoh could not salvage most of his family’s belongings.
“I tried to use a boat to enter my home, but the water had reached the roof and the current was strong,” said the grandfather of 10 while cleaning his house.
That Saturday morning, 56-year-old Ngay L, another villager, was trying to salvage his cupboard that was inundated in the mud. The cupboard, which had lost its mirror and contents, was dragged 30 meters away from Ngay’s home. His entire kitchen, including several sacks of unhusked rice, was also dragged away by the current.
The father of three said that the flash flood had been unimaginable. Despite floods happening annually in the village, it was never high.
“When the flood began to recede in the afternoon, the sky was so dark, including in the upstream region. My wife and I had planned to stay the night at our house but we decided against it. It must have been raining heavily up there,” Ngay said.
As it turned out, the floodwater got higher that afternoon. Locals were scrambling to rescue their belongings when floodwater rushed from Lasolo and Lalindu rivers behind the houses.
Floodwater continued to rush in until Saturday morning. At least 20 homes were dragged. Hundreds were damaged. One house was uprooted from its foundation and dragged to the middle of the street.
Things are more devastated in Tapuwatu village, Asera district. Of the 85 houses, only seven remained standing. Many of them had only parts of staircases, wooden boards and poles left.
Trees fell down. What remained rooted had their upper parts stooping towards the direction of the floodwater’s flow. Nevertheless, there were no casualties.
Ikbar Juslan, 46, said that people had evacuated their homes when the water got too high. They went to the shelters using boats.
Many saw the floating branches on the river and dark clouds over the upstream region as warnings.
In North Konawe, 370 houses were dragged away by the current and more than 2,000 were inundated in water. Four bridges are damaged and several are inaccessible. However, as locals are skilled in flood mitigation, there were no casualties. Flooding also occurred in three other regencies: Konawe, South Konawe and East Kolaka.
National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) chief Lieut. Gen. Doni Monardo appreciated the locals for their disaster mitigation capacity and their quick response through natural warnings and official information. However, he said that more research on the disaster’s causes would be important.
Place for water
This is the first flash flood ever to hit North Konawe. Roads are cut off, houses dragged away, fields and plantations inundated by water and tens of thousands of families affected. It is strongly believed that the flood is linked to environmental damage in the upstream region and critical watershed areas due to large-scale industry and plantations.
Aminuddin, 60, said the elderlies often reminded everyone not to damage or take too much from the forest. This will disrupt water flow in the forest and put many lives in danger.
He said that his father and grandfather used to take only what they needed from the forest, such as wood and rattan to build their houses. The soil was never dug and the trees never cut down in large numbers.
“Nowadays, entire forests are cut down and entire mountains are dug, converted into sugarcane plantations. Of course the water comes down here if it has no place to go up there,” Aminuddin said.
A common saying his ancestors used to say in the tongue of the Tolaki, among the oldest tribes in Southeast Sulawesi, goes as follows: Toati-ati, sa kinulisino oosu, mbuito tetonroano o iwoi (Be careful, if the mountain is dug, the water will have no place to live).
This was what happened. When that happened, “Our belongings will find their way back to us, we should not think too much about them. Just save ourselves first,” Kokoh said.