Floods in provinces of Indonesia’s Sulawesi island have forced thousands of people to flee their houses for higher places.

Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesperson of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), revealed on June 10 that 4,198 people in North Konawe region in Southeast Sulawesi had been evacuated to safer areas.

Asera district is the worst effected, with 13 of its villages inundated. Seventy two houses have been washed away, while hundreds of hectares of rice fields, corn fields and fish ponds have been damaged, Sutopo said.

The local disaster mitigation agency has documented damage to public facilities such as bridges, roads, houses of prayer and health facilities.

In neighboring Konawe, a four-month old baby died during the flood.

The BNPB also said 1,452 families had been affected by the floods and 200 houses had been inundated in South Sulawesi, with 3,676 hectares of rice fields destroyed.

In Central Sulawesi, 561 families in Lele and Dampala villages were evacuated after floods damaged a bridge and inundated 45 houses.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency has warned of heavy rainfall in Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku and Papua between June 11 and 15.

(Source: VNA)