At least 15 people were killed after flooding and landslides struck Indonesia’s South Sulawesi province on Saturday. More than 1,800 houses and mosques had been submerged by the waters by up to three meters, and a total of 103 houses were destroyed. Floods up to three meters (10ft) have affected 13 sub-districts as water and mud covered the area.
The incidents were triggered by heavy downpours, had occurred since Friday in Luwu regency, Spokesman of the National Disaster Management and Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Abdul Muhari told. A landslide hit Luwu regency in South Sulawesi on Friday just after 1am local time, he said in a statement. The heavy downpours were probably because the warmer air can hold more water vapour. Flooding has most likely become more frequent and severe in these locations is also affected by human factors, such as the existence of flood defences and land use.
Indonesia is prone to landslides during the rainy season, with the problem aggravated in some places by deforestation. Indonesia has suffered a string of recent extreme weather events in its rainy season, which experts said are made more likely by climate change. Extreme rainfall is more common and more intense because of human-caused climate breakdown across most of the world, particularly in Europe, most of Asia, central and eastern North America, and parts of South America, Africa and Australia.
