On 16 March 2019, a

flash flood A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, or tropical storm, or by meltwater from ice or snow flowing ...

struck

Jayapura Regency Jayapura Regency is one of the regencies (''kabupaten'') in Papua Province of Indonesia. It is situated to the west of but does not include the city of Jayapura. Previously covering most of the north-east portion of Papua province, it was reduced s ...

in the province of

Papua Papua most commonly refers to: * New Guinea, the world's second-largest island in the southwestern Pacific Ocean * Western New Guinea, the western half of the island of New Guinea, which is administered by Indonesia. ** Papua (province), an Indonesi ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

due to torrential rain, with a separate landslide occurring in the city of

Jayapura Jayapura (formerly Dutch: ''Hollandia'') is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of Papua. It is situated on the northern coast of New Guinea island and covers an area of . The city borders the Pacific Ocean and Yos Sud ...

several hours later. At least 113 people were killed in the two events.

Events

The flash flooding, which struck the Sentani district of Jayapura Regency, was triggered by torrential rainfall followed by landslide. The event occurred around 21:30

WIT Wit is a form of intelligent humour, the ability to say or write things that are clever and usually funny. Someone witty is a person who is skilled at making clever and funny remarks. Forms of wit include the quip, repartee, and wisecrack. Form ...

(12:30 UTC) on 16 March, and sudden influx of water was expected to have originated from the

Cyclops Mountains The Cyclops Mountains ( id, Pegunungan Cycloop) are located to the west of Jayapura in Papua, Indonesia, and north of Lake Sentani. In Papua, it is also known as Dafonsoro or Dabonsolo mountain, and is the namesake for football club Persidafon. ...

, which according to

BNPB The National Agency for Disaster Countermeasure (Indonesian: ''Badan Nasional Penanggulangan Bencana''; officially National Disaster Management Agency), abbreviated as BNPB, is the Indonesian board for natural disaster affairs. It was establish ...

spokesman

Sutopo Purwo Nugroho Sutopo Purwo Nugroho (7 October 1969 – 7 July 2019) was an Indonesian civil servant and academic who worked at the Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management as its head of public relations. An alumnus of Gadjah Mada University and Bogo ...

was likely caused by a landslide forming a dam blocking the headwaters of a river, which then burst resulting in the torrential flow. The floodwaters swept away with it significant amounts of material, including uprooted trees and boulders. An increase in the water depth of the local Kemiri River was reported shortly afterwards, resulting in buildings near the river being inundated. Jayapura regent Mathius Awoitauw stated that the flooding was caused by environmental damage in the Cyclops Mountains. Separately, around 00:15 WIT on 17 March, a landslide occurred in the city of

. The second event was similarly attributed to the torrential rainfall.

Casualties

By afternoon of 17 March, the Papua regional police had confirmed 70 fatalities, 63 of which were in Jayapura Regency while 7 were in the city of

. A total of 105 were confirmed to have been injured, with 75 being classified as "lightly injured" and 30 as "heavily injured". Later that day, the death toll was updated to 73, of which 66 were in the Regency, with 60 reported to be missing. The most-affected area is Sentani, where at least 51 people are reported to have been killed. Most of the victims' bodies were brought to the Bhayangkara Hospital in Jayapura for identification and collection by relatives. On evening the following day, 89 people had been confirmed killed: 82 due to the flash flooding and 7 from the landslide. 159 injuries (84 classified as "heavy" and 75 as "light") were also confirmed, with 74 reported missing. By 19 March, the death toll was further updated to 92 dead. On Wednesday, 20 March, the death toll was further increased to 104 killed with 79 missing, and 40 of the unidentified victims were to be buried in a

mass grave A mass grave is a grave containing multiple human corpses, which may or may Unidentified decedent, not be identified prior to burial. The United Nations has defined a criminal mass grave as a burial site containing three or more victims of executi ...

. On 26 March, the death toll rose to 113.Grim search for survivors continues after floods kill 113 people in Indonesia
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Impact

Over 11,000 people from across the regency were displaced due to the flooding, spread across 28 sites, with 11,725 households impacted across three districts. The flooding affected nine villages and damaged three bridges, submerging more than 150 houses. The administrative villages of Dobonsolo, Doyobaru and Hini Kumbi were the most affected. Papua's police recorded that 350 houses were heavily damaged, with additional damages to drainage systems and other public facilities. The Sentani–Kemiri road was blocked due to the flooding. Sentani's Adventis Doyo airstrip was also struck by the flooding, damaging a helicopter and a

Twin Otter The de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada, which produced the aircraft from 1965 to 1988; Viking Air purchased the type certificate, then resta ...

aircraft parked there at the time of the disaster. Operations of the nearby

Sentani Airport Dortheys Hiyo Eluay International Airport, also known as Sentani International Airport ( id, Bandar Udara Internasional Sentani) is an airport serving Jayapura,

remained normal, despite its surrounding areas being impacted by the flooding. According to PLN, the transmission of around 5.2 MW of electricity was disrupted. Total damage of the flooding in Sentani topped at Rp454 billion (US$31.8 million).

Response

The emergency response headquarters, which also acted as a temporary shelter, were established at the Jayapura Regent's office complex. Papua's provincial government declared a 2-week emergency response period following the disaster.

Kodam XVII/Cenderawasih Komando Daerah Militer XVII/Cenderawasih or Kodam XVII/Cenderawasih (XVII ''Military Regional Command/Cenderawasih''), is a military area command of the Indonesian Army, as the 17th (Roman numeral "XVII") Kodam, which is responsible for the defen ...

deployed the equivalent of 2 engineering platoons and 6 infantry companies to aid with evacuation and disaster management. In total, around 1,900 emergency workers and volunteers were deployed to the area.

References

{{2019 floods 2019 disasters in Indonesia

Floods in Indonesia Jayapura March 2019 events in Indonesia