At least 41 people have died and 17 people have been injured due to the flash floods of “cold lava” hitting the western Indonesian island of Sumatra. Since Saturday 11 May, the heavy rains that have been falling on the area have brought torrents of ash and rocks downstream from Mount Marapi, the most active volcano in Sumatra, causing […]
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At least they are 41 the dead and 17 the injured caused by the flash floods ofcold wash” which are affecting the western Indonesian island of Sumatra. From Saturday May 11th the heavy rains that are hitting the area have brought torrents of ash And rocks from the Mount MarapiThe volcano more active than Sumatra, causing severe disasters for the population.
Landslides inundated two districts close to the volcano, overwhelming everything in their path and destroying hundreds of homes, mosques and public structures. Cold lava is a mixture of volcanic material And pebbles which flows along the slopes of the volcano transported by rain and, generically, has a temperature contained between 0 And 100 degrees. It usually remains below 50°.
According to Wengki Purwanto, director of the West Sumatra branch of theIndonesian Forum for Environment quoted by BBCflash floods and cold lava flows continue to recur and increase in intensity due to “excessive exploitation from the natural resources“. Scenarios like this are not uncommon on the island of Sumatra: in the last February other floods had damaged the area Tanah Datar.
