Jakarta (AsiaNews) - Heavy rains in the last two days in Manado, the provincial capital of North Sulawesi, have caused flooding and landslides that have killed at least 15 people and displaced thousands. The toll is still partial and some unofficial sources report 17 dead and more than 8 thousand homeless. The people fled from their homes invaded by water and mud, seeking refuge in the highest areas of the city. It is still an emergency situation with many families without food and drinking water.
This morning, the waters began to recede in many areas of the provincial capital, revealing devastating damage. Several main roads to Manado are still impassable, the houses uninhabitable and people have found emergency accommodation in tents and other makeshift shelters.
SH Sarundajang, Governor of North Sulawesi, has launched an appeal asking for full cooperation in coping with the natural disaster: experts note that similar episodes of this scale and scope have not happened in the area in decades. The first objective says the senior official, is "to ensure temporary shelter to displaced people."
What worries local authorities even more is the fact that the Manado disaster has been overlooked in Indonesia. Not one major national news agency has reported the story, despite the seven districts submerged, victims, including four children, and thousands of homeless. The Indonesian province of North Sulawesi is home to many Christian and Catholic communities, much higher in proportion to the rest of the Muslim majority nation, the presence is such that the capital of Manado is called "Christian city " because of the high number of Protestant communities while Catholics are about 3% (in line with the national figure).