Bali’s brightest floods after a decade kill 14

At least 14 people at Bali in Indonesia have been killed in what officials say are the island’s tallest floods for a decade.

The torrential rains caused a strong flood through the greater part of the island, which made the rivers cracked their shores. The rain has already stopped and the water levels are withdrawing, but rescuers are still looking for survivors. Two people are missing in Denpasar, where eight have occurred.

Hundreds of residents have been evacuated since Tuesday because their homes are submerged. The main roads are closed by landslides and at least two bridges.

“The people here were shocked. The flood was so bad,” Bali Tasha resident told BBC News Indonesia. “I thought Bali had adequate drainage.”

The province’s government has declared an extraordinary state of emergency.

President Prabovo Subianto expressed his deep condolences for the flood in a statement on Wednesday. The president had instructed all relevant agencies to act “quickly” and emphasized the need for “targeted help,” said his office secretary.

Nyoman Sidakarya, Head of the Bali Search and Rescue Agency, told the local news agency BetweenRescue crews were “difficult to access the flooded areas”.

“Floods are everywhere, even trucks can barely pass,” he said.

Two people were killed by electricity and were swept away by the current one, in the southwestern Bali in Jembrana, authorities said.

Eight other victims were found dead in Denpasar, the capital of Bali and three were found in Janyar. In Badung County, one person died.

At least 85 people have been evacuated to temporary shelters in the Jembran region in the southwest of Bali, while two buildings collapsed in Denpasar.

Bali is not the only island in Indonesia to be affected by lightning floods and heavy rainfall.

At least three people were killed, two were injured, and four disappeared in the neighboring East Nusa Tengara province, the disaster agency said on Tuesday.

More than 385 mm of rain for 24 hours were registered at the Bali Climatology Station.

Popular tourist areas are also heavily affected, with hotels and business struggling to cope with the interruption. Officials in some areas say garbage clogs drainage systems, which worsens floods. The island has long been fighting the problems of waste management and poor infrastructure.

Bali remains a heavy warning of the weather, although the rains are expected to be less intense over the island since Thursday.

Landslides and lightning floods are not uncommon in the Indonesian archipelago, especially during the rainy season and climate change has worsened the situation, employees say.