The fatal alchemy of mud, water and brute force struck eastern Indonesia an hour after midnight on Sunday, killing at least 41 people, aid officials said.
Flash floods and landslides have submerged entire neighborhoods in the eastern Nusa Tenggara Province, which includes more than 560 islands. Seven villages have been severely affected, according to Raditya Jati, a spokesman for Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency. Twenty-seven people are missing and nine were injured, he said.
Some of the worst damage occurred on the remote island of Adonara, where many residents were preparing to celebrate Easter Sunday. Torrential rain and strong winds had fallen since the previous day. The damage left dozens of houses under mud and water. Five bridges have been broken, said Raditya.
The rescue effort was hampered because the only access to Adonara is by sea and the waters are choppy from heavy rains, he said. But the priority is to ensure that survivors are moved to areas protected from new floods or landslides.
“We are still coordinating with different departments,” said Mr. Raditya. “We are focusing on the first response at the moment.”
East Nusa Tenggara is the only Roman Catholic majority province in Indonesia, which is the most populous Muslim majority nation in the world.
Every year, during the monsoon season, Indonesia prepares for water disasters. But the country faces other adversities. With thousands of inhabited islands perched on the seismically active “ring of fire”, Indonesia is particularly vulnerable to natural disasters, including volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, landslides and severe storms.
In recent years, the country has also dealt with plane crashes, boat accidents and other transportation lapses.
In January, landslides killed about 40 people on Java, Indonesia’s most populous island. There, another landslide occurred after disaster management officials gathered to help with search and rescue efforts. The head of a local disaster relief agency and a captain in the Indonesian army were among the dead.
Rampant deforestation in Indonesia has contributed to the risk of such disasters, leaving the soil loose and risking coalescing in deadly mud flows when torrential rains come.
Before this weekend, the national meteorological department had warned of the high intensity of the rains, Raditya said. But many residents of small and distant islands like Adonara have few safe places to shelter.
“I think the biggest challenge will be how to use heavy equipment,” said Raditya, referring to efforts to dig up people and homes in the hope of finding survivors.
But, due to the communication challenges, Mr. Raditya said he was not sure whether the appropriate equipment was available in Adonara.