TORRENTIAL rain has sparked horror flash floods across Bali – leaving at least six people dead.
Some of Bali‘s most popular tourist spots have been left underwater – as monsoon rain continues to thrash the island.
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The deluge began on Tuesday evening and has continued into Wednesday, bringing down two buildings in the island’s capital Denpasar.
Four people were killed when the buildings collapsed and multiple major roads remain blocked off.
Videos posted to social media show cars floating down roadways and overflowing rivers.
The flooding has engulfed entire streets as panicked locals attempt to wade through chest-deep water.
Two people died in Jembrana – western Bali – as Abdul Muhari from the National Disaster Mitigation Agency revealed 85 more people were evacuated on Wednesday.
Denpasar remains the worst affected area – with major road blockages.
In total, four regions of the island have been severely disrupted by the wild weather.
Access to the international airport near Denpasar is still limited – with trucks the only vehicles able to use the roads safely, according to Nyoman Sidakarya, the head of Bali’s search and rescue agency.
“About 200 rescuers have been dispatched,” Nyoman said.
To the east, the island of East Nusa Tenggara has also been hit by severe rain and flooding, cutting off 18 villages and leaving four people dead, according to Indonesia‘s disaster mitigation agency.
Muhari said phone services had also been lost in many of the villages.
The agency’s chief Suharyanto said four people still remained missing on East Nusa Tenggara.
Wild weather is normal during the annual monsoon season, typically between November and April, and can cause landslides, flash flooding and the spread of water-borne diseases.
Local media shared footage from Karangasem – the eastern region of Bali – where the heavy rainfall has also caused landslides, closing access to several areas.
The Bali Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) issued an early warning of extreme weather ahead of the downpour.
BMKG warned of moderate to heavy rain, potentially accompanied by lightning and strong winds.
“The mass amount of rain was influenced by the active atmospheric waves, known as Rossby Waves,” a spokesperson from BMKG said.
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In a post to social media, BMKG explained further.
“This Rossby wave triggers the formation… or the gathering of rain clouds in the areas it passes through, including Bali,” the statement read.
BMKG predicted rainfall would ease on Wednesday afternoon.
In a TikTok video an Australian man said it was “the biggest storm” he’d experienced in Bali in 10 years.
“It has not stopped raining for two days,” he told his camera.
“The thunder last night, I woke up from the noise and could actually hear the glass doors shaking in my room.
“My wife thought there was going to be an earthquake.”
BMKG said several rivers had overflowed over the last 24 hours, including the major Tukad Badung River near Badung Market in Denpasar.
A spokesperson said “almost all of Bali [is flooded]”.
“The height varies, even some two-storey houses are submerged,” Secretary of BMKG Gede Agung Tejas Bhusana Yadnya told Indonesian media.
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