18 dead, 5 missing after Indonesia floods, landslide

Torrential rains triggered the floods and landslide that hit PesisirSelatan regency in West Sumatra province, forcing around 46,000 people toevacuate to temporary shelters.
"Eighteen people were found dead. Five were missing," Pesisir Selatandisaster mitigation agency acting head Doni Gusrizal told AFP late Saturday.
The official updated the toll from 10 he gave in an earlier statement.
Doni said debris from the disasters had hampered ongoing rescue efforts.
"The impact from the floods (was) extraordinary. Currently we are cleaningthe road... Our vehicles cannot pass through," he said.  
As of late Saturday, electricity services were still down in several partsof Pesisir Selatan after the disaster, according to an AFP reporter in theregency.
At least 14 houses were buried in the landslide, more than 20,000 houseswere flooded and eight bridges had collapsed, according to earlier statementfrom the national disaster mitigation agency.
In Padang Pariaman regency, also in West Sumatra, heavy downpours betweenThursday and Friday caused rivers to overflow and triggered floods and alandslide, killing at least three people, according to a statement from thelocal disaster mitigation agency.
Indonesia is prone to landslides during the rainy season and the problemhas been aggravated in some places by deforestation, with prolonged torrentialrain causing flooding in some areas of the archipelago nation.
A landslide and floods swept away dozens of houses and destroyed a hotelnear Lake Toba on Sumatra in December, killing at least two people, reports BSS.