JAKARTA, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Floods, landslides and whirlwind have forced almost 10,000 people to flee home in West Java province's district of Karawang, spokesman for the National Disaster Management Agency Agus Wibowo said on Wednesday.
The natural disasters destroyed three school buildings and one mosque as well as inundating over 800 hectares of rice fields, the spokesman told Xinhua.
Evacuation has been carried out as the floods have affected 47,670 residents in the district, he said.
Makeshift tents and posts of logistics were set up for the affected people, and other emergency relief aids such as foods and blankets have been sent to the scene, Wibowo said.
To pave the way for the emergency relief efforts, he added that a 14-day emergency was declared on Wednesday.
According to Wibowo, the agency's Head Doni Monardo visited the disaster-hit areas on Wednesday to ensure proper emergency relief.
Meanwhile, spokesman for the Provincial Search and Rescue Office Joshua Banjarnahor said a joint rescue team has evacuated nearly 200 people, including babies and women.
"They were evacuated to their relative houses which are not submerged by the waters," he told Xinhua.
Soldiers and policemen as well as personnel of the Search and Rescue Office and the Disaster Management Agency are involved in the rescue mission, the spokesman said.
Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency's official Fachri Radjab said tropical cyclone Esther in the Gulf of Carpentaria of Australia and tropical cyclone Ferdinand in the Indian Ocean triggered heavy downpours in western Java Island, including West Java province and other parts of the country.
The agency warned of heavy downpours on Wednesday.
