Flash Floods and Landslides Hit Malang, Thousands Affected

Head of BPBD Malang Fuad Fauzi said that of the 1.939 families affected by the disasters in Malang, 723 of them were in Lebakharjo Village, Ampelgading sub-district, Tuesday (18/10/2022).

Fuad mentioned in detail the number of families affected by the disasters.

In the Tirtoyudo sub-district, seven villages with 293 families were affected.

In the Dampit sub-district, one village with four families was affected.

In the Ampelgading sub-district, nine villages with 741 families were affected and most of them were in Lebakharjo village.

In the Donomulyo sub-district, one village with three families was affected.

In the Sumbermanjing Wetan sub-district, four villages with 682 families were affected.

While in Batur, Gedangan, and Pagak sub-district, four villages with 216 families were affected. 

Meanwhile, the National Electricity Company (PLN) conducted a temporary blackout of electricity supply in a number of disaster-affected areas in Malang on October 17, 2022. This power cut was an effort to maintain the safety of the residents.

The manager of PLN UP3 Malang Farqi Faris said that the electricity flow would return to normal when the water conditions recede and the situation is safe, as reported by Antara, Tuesday (18/10/2022).

Farqi said that the blackout was carried out in a number of villages, including Sitiarjo, Tambakrejo, Kedungbanteng, and Tambaksari village in the Sumbermanjing Wetan sub-district.

"This is done in order to maintain the safety of residents, PLN has cut off electricity at several distribution substations," he said.

According to him, PLN is also carrying out a series of handling efforts. Starting from data collection of materials affected by damage, data collection of substations affected by flooding, preparation of repair materials, to pole repair and construction work.

He added that of the 137 distribution substations that were affected, 129 of them had electricity again. While the rest are still being turned off because there are still a number of areas affected by flooding and the water has not receded.

He also appealed to the public to take a number of steps if they live in a flood-affected area, including turning off electricity from the Meter Circuit Breaker (MCB), unplugging all electrical equipment, and moving electronic devices to a safe place.

"If the electricity supply around the flooded area has not been turned off, we urge residents to immediately reach our contact center 123," he said.

Writer: Safinatun Nikmah