Heavy Rain Floods 538 Homes in Pati, Affecting 1,050 Residents
- 25 Mei 2026 21:12 WIB
- Voice of Indonesia
Key Points
- Residents of Ketitang Wetan Village in Batangan Subdistrict, Pati Regency, were hit by a second, more severe wave of flooding on Monday, May 25, 2026.
- Driven by heavy rainfall, the rising waters inundated 538 homes, affected 1,050 residents, forced three schools to close, and submerged 57 houses of worship.
- Out of the affected households, 150 homes experienced indoor flooding with water levels reaching between 10 and 50 centimeters, disrupting local roads, agricultural fields, and rice milling facilities.
RRI.CO.ID, Pati - Heavy rainfall caused the local river’s water discharge to surge, flooding the residential area of Ketitangwetan Village, Batangan Subdistrict, Pati Regency, Central Java, Sunday, May 25, 2026.
Heavy rainfall that began on Sunday night, May 24, 2026, and continued into Monday morning sent river levels surging across the area, inundating 538 homes and affecting 1,050 residents. Three schools were forced to close for the day after floodwaters entered classrooms, and 57 houses of worship, including prayer rooms, mosques, and a church, were also submerged.
Acting Head of the Pati Regency Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), Martinus Budi Prasetya, confirmed the scale of the disaster on Monday, May 25, 2026. He pointed to a combination of upstream overflow and long-standing drainage failures as the root causes.
"Water was coming in from upstream along the Widodaren River, from Jaken, Pucakwangi, and Todanan Subdistricts. Meanwhile, the Widodaren watershed down to the sea, covering the Gedong River and Kaliombo, has become shallow due to sediment and waste buildup blocking the flow under bridges, which further impeded water drainage," he explained, as quoted by Antara.
Of the 538 affected homes, 150 saw floodwaters enter their interiors, with water levels inside reaching between 10 and 50 centimeters. Beyond residential areas, the flooding extended to fields, rice milling facilities, and village road access, bringing daily life in the affected zone to a near standstill.
Despite the widespread inundation, Martinus confirmed there were no fatalities and no evacuations. "Although flooding is still occurring, no residents have evacuated. There are zero casualties," he said.
For local resident Mail (36), Monday's disaster carried a grim sense of déjà vu. The flooding marked the second time in less than a week that his community had been overwhelmed by rising water.
The first wave struck on the night of Saturday, May 23, 2026, before partially receding, only for Sunday night's downpour to trigger an even larger inundation.
"Today's flooding is worse than the first one, because the waterlogging is almost everywhere," said Mail.
The back-to-back flooding episodes have renewed concerns about the structural vulnerability of the Widodaren watershed. In this area, sedimentation and solid waste accumulation have significantly reduced the river system's capacity to channel heavy rainfall safely to the sea. ***
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