Worried Aussies stuck in deadly Bali flooding
Heavy rain has flooded the holiday island of Bali, causing widespread disruption and killing at least six people.
Source: X
An Australian woman has described being stuck in her ground-floor Bali villa as deadly floods sweep the holiday island.
Kim Eastough, from Perth, said a nearby river had succumbed to the “totally unseasonal” drenching and overflowed, spreading to the villa she is leasing in Legian, on Bali’s west coast, just north of Kuta – and leaving it soaking in 10 centimetres of water.
“The whole complex is flooded out,” Eastough, 61, told the Seven Network late on Wednesday, as water lapped at her bed.
“No one can leave their buildings or anything because obviously, the water, you can’t see what’s underneath.
“It’s very confronting.”
Eastough said it had rained throughout Tuesday. It was even heavier on Wednesday, with storms bringing thunder and lightning.
“I’m a little bit scared. I’ve just got to wait it out, I suppose,” she said.
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“I’ve lived up north [of Western Australia] and been through floods … but this is different when you’re stuck in your house.”
Kim Eastough is stuck in her flooded Legian villa. Pictures: Seven Network
I Nyoman Sidakarya, the head of Bali’s search and rescue agency said continuous heavy rain from Tuesday night into early Wednesday had brought down two buildings in Bali’s capital Denpasar, killing four people.
Two more people have died and 85 were evacuated in the region of Jembrana, Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency said on Wednesday.
Flooding continued to hit Bali on Wednesday, the agency chief Suharyanto said.
Access to the island’s international airport near Denpasar was limited as only trucks could use the roads, Nyoman said.
Videos on social media, which Reuters could not authenticate, show floods on major roads leading to complete gridlock.
Denpasar resident Ni Made Anggraeni said she’d never seen such bad conditions in Bali.
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“My house was flooded and we couldn’t go anywhere, we were completely isolated until 3pm,” she told the ABC.
“From yesterday morning to the morning of today, the rain never stopped.
“All my life living in Bali, this is the first time this happened.
“I am scared for sure, but we were lucky this morning, we were all awake … if we had been asleep, we had no idea there would be a flood and we would have been carried away.”
Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) recorded more than 150 millimetres of rain in some areas across the holiday island – with more to come.
“Rainfall is expected to persist over the next three days, with light to moderate intensity in most areas of Bali,” Cahyo Nugroho, head of BMKG Region III Denpasar, said on Wednesday.
The agency said the prolonged rain had triggered multiple disasters, including flash floods. Nyoman said about 200 rescuers had been dispatched.
Floods inundated residential areas near Pura Demak and the Badung Market in Denpasar.
Authorities urged residents to remain alert and heed official warnings as more extreme weather was likely in coming days.
Heavy rain also led to flooding in Indonesia’s East Nusa Tenggara where four people have been killed, the disaster mitigation agency said.
-with AAP
