Fresh floods hit east Indonesia, 10,000 evacuated

Residents wait for evacuation on top of the roof of their half-submerged home in Manado, North Sulawesi, on Saturday

JAKARTA, Indonesia (Reuters) -- Heavy floods and landslides triggered by days of incessant rains have caused havoc in parts of eastern Indonesia, killing several people and forcing more than 10,000 to be evacuated, media reports said on Monday.

The Jakarta Post newspaper said four people had been killed in North Sulawesi while 10,000 people who had their homes buried, washed away or destroyed in recent days were living in squalid conditions with a lack of food and medical supplies.

North Sulawesi is around 2,200 kilometers (1,375 miles) northeast of Jakarta.

Flood waters have not affected major crop areas, which include coffee and cocoa, on Sulawesi.

Flash floods had also forced the evacuation of thousands of people from their homes on the eastern island of Sumbawa on Sunday, the official Antara news agency reported.

Residents swim in their flooded neighborhood in Manado on Saturday

An official from a copper and gold mine operated by PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara on Sumbawa said output had not been affected by the floods. The mine is owned by Newmont Mining Corp (NEM.N), a Japanese consortium and an Indonesian mining entity.

Tropical storms had also lashed the eastern Moluccas islands on Sunday, but there were no reports of casualties or damage, Antara added.

Weather officials were not immediately available to comment on the likelihood of more rains this week.

Indonesia's emergency services are already stretched trying to clean up after massive floods on the western island of Sumatra late last month that killed scores of people.

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