[MY LOCAL NEWS] North Aceh District & Indonesia- Floods in Matangkuli District

On this occasion I would like to participate in a contest organized by @pennsif with the theme Local News. This contest is very interesting and important for us, where through this contest and theme we can report and inform the whole world about events happening in our place which we hope can be useful information for many people.

This time I will report the flood incident that occurred on Friday 18 March 2022 in Matangkuli District, North Aceh Regency. Matangkuli district, which is part of North Aceh Regency, is a district that often experiences flooding. This year there have been several floods in Earth Cut Mutia (Cut Mutia is a valiant heroine). Floods began in early 2022 which were then followed by several follow-up floods with different degrees of severity.

The last flood incident that occurred on Friday, March 18, 2022 yesterday was the umpteenth time this was caused by heavy rains that flushed North Aceh Regency, causing several districts (Sawang, Pirak Timu , Langkahan and Matangkuli) were flooded.

Of the 4 districts that were inundated by the flood, Matangkuli was the most affected with the flood height reaching 10-50 centimeters. Yesterday's flood was caused by the overflow of two rivers that pass through this district, namely Krueng Keureuto and Krueng Pirak, so that water flows into roads and residential areas of the watershed area.

The authorities, namely the Aceh Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), have appealed to all North Aceh people, especially flood-prone districts, to remain vigilant because of the potential for high intensity rain. The North Aceh BPBD carries out routine patrols to monitor this situation and take countermeasures including the evacuation of victims.

One of the villages that experienced flooding is Hagu Village (where I live) which is the village with the most frequent flooding. This flood reached 50 centimeters which inundated people's houses, including my parents' house. Meanwhile, my house is only flooded in the yard around my house so that my house is isolated. I have to use a boat to buy groceries and other necessities.

The flood yesterday inundated almost 90% of my village area, where many people's houses were flooded with different heights. This flood caused most of the school children to not be able to follow the learning process at their school. Some residents evacuated their vehicles such as motorbikes and cars since 05 AM to the local mosque complex which is located slightly higher.

Unlike the flood incident at the beginning of 2022, this time the flood did not cause any casualties. However, it caused the rice seeds belonging to the residents who had just been sown to be damaged and carried away by floods, so they had to sow them later.

By the time I write this news (Saturday), the flood has begun to recede, but it has not completely disappeared from the settlements. In certain parts such as my mother's yard and the garden in front of my house, the flood inundated it and could rise again if it rains in a few moments.

This morning the residents have started cleaning their houses which were flooded and left sediment in the form of mud that littered their houses. This sometimes makes residents sick, especially people who are old and sickly because they have to work hard to clean their homes. It often happens that in the morning they clean up the mud, the next morning the flood will happen again.

The local government has not taken any concrete steps to prevent it. The reservoir, which is currently under construction, has not yet shown its function, and there is still much work to be done, such as normalizing the watershed.

We hope that in the future the government can take concrete steps in overcoming this flood to reduce the losses experienced by the community and prevent child stunting because this flood causes the residents' agricultural areas to be damaged so that production rice has decreased drastically, even though in the past, North Aceh Regency was known as one of the largest rice-producing areas in Aceh.

That's the news I can report this time. Hopefully useful and thanks to @pennsif for initiating this contest and theme.