BANGKOK (AlertNet) - Flash floods killed at least 145 people and drove more than 4,600 from their homes in IndonesiaÂ?s easternmost Papua province last week, while poor infrastructure, mountainous terrain and persistent rains are hampering aid efforts, relief agencies said on Tuesday.
In parts of the flooded Wasior district, in the western half of Papua, the flooding and collapsed bridges have blocked roads, electricity is down and health centres are not working because they are inundated by mud, the Red Cross said in a statement.
Â?Infrastructure in the area has collapsed so it is a very, very bad situation,Â? said Ahmad Djaelani, a disaster management official with the Indonesian Red Cross.
The local airport, which was under a metre of mud, is now clear but only small planes can land there. Transportation in western Papua has always been difficult and there are few and infrequent commercial flights to the area hit by the floods.
As a result, relief supplies such as food and water and medical teams have to be fetched to the area by helicopters and boats.
Search and rescue teams are looking for more survivors but the rains Â?from the morning till the nightÂ? are complicating their work, La Abidin of the Indonesian Red Cross told AlertNet.
The 4,625 displaced people have been evacuated from the flooded area and are staying in temporary accommodation. They need food, clean water and clothes, Abidin said.
The deluge hit in the morning on Oct. 4 when many people were still in their homes, aid agencies said. Waters rose as high at 3 metres after days of heavy rain.
Â?Hundreds of homes were also damaged when a river burst its banks, sweeping away residents in a fast-moving wall of sludge, rocks and heavy logs,Â? the World Health Organisation said in a briefing.
According to the Indonesian Red Cross, more than 800 people have been injured and over 100 are still missing. Government officials said the death toll is likely to rise.
Indonesian officials and forestry experts are to investigate claims that illegal logging contributed to the floods, the Forestry Ministry said on Monday.
Indonesia has struggled to curb widespread illegal logging of its forests, which exacerbates damage caused by flooding. Conservationist group Greenomics said in a statement that a logging Â?mafiaÂ? was partly to blame for the floods.
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