Flood death toll reaches 30 in Indonesia's Sumatra

JAKARTA, Dec 24 (Reuters) Floods in Indonesia's Aceh and North Sumatra provinces have left at least 30 people dead and forced tens of thousands to flee their homes, Health Ministry official Rustam Pakaya said today.

Casualty counts were still coming in from Aceh and North Sumatra provinces, hardest hit by the heavy rains that sent streams overflowing their banks, with the downpours' effects made worse by deforestation.

The total known dead had reached 13 in Aceh and 17 in North Sumatra as of late afternoon, Pakaya said in a late afternoon telephone text message to Reuters.

A government official in Aceh Tamiang district had reported to the ministry earlier that 11 people were carried away by the raging waters and 17 houses were washed out.

In Aceh the floods have affected five districts and injured hundreds of people.

Almost exactly two years ago, on December. 26, 2004, Aceh was hit by the Indian Ocean tsunami, which left some 170,000 dead or missing in the province.

Langkat regency in North Sumatra suffered the heaviest number of deaths in that province from this month's floodings, according to officials.

Syam Sumarno, a spokesman for the regency government, blamed heavy rains that began on Friday as well as deforestation for the devastation. Lack of forest means the ground is less capable of retaining water.

In Langkat, nearly 6,000 people are in temporary residences at shelters while in Aceh the number is close to 50,000, Pakaya told Reuters earlier today by telephone.

More people were leaving their homes in mountainous areas, he added.

''They are worried that there will be landslides.'' ROADS CUT North Sumatra information agency chief Eddy Syofyan was quoted by Antara state news agency as saying some roads connecting North Sumatra and Aceh had been cut by floods.

The governor of North Sumatra, Rudolf M Pardede, has asked state oil company Pertamina to supply such community needs as kerosene at the shelters.

Relief aid was flowing to affected areas from various crisis centres, along with health services to prevent illnesses such as diarrhoea.

In Malaysia, across the trait of Malacca from Sumatra, the worst floods in 37 years have displaced nearly 100,000 people amid food shortages, looting and criticism tomorrow of the government's handling of the crisis.

Malaysian weathermen warned that the floods that hit southern states could spread to central and northeastern parts of the country if the unusually heavy monsoon rains persisted.

The rains over the Malaysian states of Johor, Negeri Sembilan, Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang were expected to continue until today, the weather bureau has said.

As of yesterday at least six Malaysians, all in the worst-hit state of Johor, had died in the floods, which the government described as the worst since 1969.

REUTERS DKA PM1655