Floods displace almost 15,000 in Indonesia

The local disaster service said 14,901 people from the southern and eastern parts of the province had been forced to move to temporary shelters or relatives' homes due to heavy rains. Hectares of rice fields and many shrimp ponds have been inundated, causing significant economic losses.

Traffic was also paralyzed in the affected areas. No deaths have been reported, however.

Provincial authorities blame climate change and deforestation for the protracted flooding in the area. In early December a total of 3,532 houses were inundated, forcing the evacuation of over 15,000 people in the province of Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra.

By RIA Novosti