Indonesia on Alert: Flash Floods Leave 11 Dead, 13 Missing ...

Indonesia -- Rescuers on Thursday searched in rivers and the rubble of devastated villages for survivors of devastating flash floods that struck two provinces in Indonesia a day earlier, as waters began to recede.

Torrential rains beginning Monday caused flooding and landslides on the tourist island of Bali and in East Nusa Tenggara province, killing at least 15 people and leaving 10 missing.

Rain caused rivers to burst their banks, tearing through nine cities and districts on Bali. Mud, rocks and trees tumbled onto mountainside hamlets and rising rivers submerged at least 112 neighborhoods and resulted in several landslides, Bali’s Disaster Mitigation Agency said in a statement.

As river levels returned to normal on Thursday, people in Denpasar, Bali's capital, left crammed emergency shelters. They found streets covered in mud and debris, cars lying upside down in parks or piled up in narrow alleys, and sidewalks strewn with sandals, pots and pans and old photographs.

Authorities took advantage of the receding waters to begin clearing away mud and removing piles of wet garbage from the streets, and electricity was restored to tens of thousands of residences and businesses.

Heavy seasonal rain from about September to March frequently causes flooding and landslides in Indonesia.