INDONESIA BRACING FOR FLOODS, LANDSLIDES AS RAINY SEASON PEAKS by Fardah

 Jakarta, Oct 29, 2016 (Antara) - Moderate to high intensity rainfall will hit areas across Indonesia this November.

          South Sumatra, Bengkulu, Lampung, Bangka Belitung, North Sumatera, Banten, West Java, Jakarta and surroundings, Central Java, East Java, Central Kalimantan, Central Sulawesi, Maluku, West Papua and Papua Provinces will witness rainfall.

        The country is, however, expecting the rainy season to peak in January and February 2017, especially in Jakarta and its suburban areas, according to the Meteorological, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).

         Therefore, the agency has urged people living in disaster-prone areas to remain vigilant and prepared to deal with any disaster and prevent casualties.

          BMKG Chief Andi Eka Sakya explained that rainfall has been 50 percent of the normal this year, though because of natural phenomena such as Dipole Mode and La Nina, the country has been experiencing high intensity rainfall.

          "Besides, there is monsoon (a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation), and there is also a tropical cyclone and low pressure in the region," he noted.

        Despite the La Nina, the peak rainy season in January and February 2017 is forecast to be less wet than that in early 2016, BMKG Deputy in Charge of Meteorology Yunus Swarinoto said.

         However, it tended to last longer, according to Mulyono R Prabowo, head of the Public Meteorology Center of BMKG.

         Rains' intensity might be less than the previous year's level, but the duration is expected to be longer, and this could trigger hydro-meteorological disasters such as landslide and flooding, he said.        
      Nearly 99 percent of the natural disasters hitting Indonesia were hydro-meteorological in nature, such as floods, landslides and whirlwinds.

             According to the data of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), at least 315 districts and municipalities across the country are prone to flooding.

         Floods can possibly affect more than 63.7 million people. Some 274 districts and municipalities are at risk of landslides.

          During January-February 2016 alone, floods and landslides had struck 260 districts and municipalities in the country, leaving 46 people dead and 16 others injured.

           According to data, up to September 2016, some 315 people were killed or missing in 1,025 cases of flooding and landslides across the country.

          Flash floods in Garut District, West Java, were the last major disaster that led to 34 deaths and left 19 others missing, four seriously injured and 27 slightly wounded.

          The natural disaster that displaced more than one thousand people was triggered by incessant heavy rains, which caused the Cimanuk and Cikamuri rivers to overflow on the evening of Sept. 20.

           The flood-affected sub-districts included Bayongbong, Garut City, Banyuresmi, Tarogong Kaler, Tarogong Kidul, Karang Pawitan and Samarang.   
     President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) visited victims of flash floods in Garut, whose District Head Rudy Gunawan had declared an emergency following the natural disaster.

          Floods were also reported very recently in several other parts of West Java, such as in Sukabumi, Bandung District and Bandung City.

         Bandung City Mayor Ridwan Kamil expressed his deepest sympathy on his Twitter account on Oct 24 after one person died.

         The victim, identified as Ade Sudrajat (30), had slipped into a gutter and was swept away by the current while trying to help another person, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBN), said on Oct 25.

         In Aceh Province, as many as 6,883 people, or 1,925 families, were displaced by flooding that hit West Aceh District. The Aceh Jaya District was also flooded.

           Eight out of 12 sub-districts in West Aceh were inundated following incessant heavy rains since Oct 24 evening, Iraidi, head of the West Aceh disaster mitigation office, said the next day.

          Relief aid was distributed to flood victims who had to leave their own homes and take refuge elsewhere, he noted.

          The authorities have set up refugee camps in Pasie Masjid Pasi Ara villages in East Woyla Sub-district.

          On the Sulawesi Island, five sub-districts in the Gorontalo District, Gorontalo Province, were still flooded as rains continued to fall on Oct 28, and caused several rivers to overflow.

         The affected sub-districts were Bilato, West Limboto, Telaga Jaya, Asparaga and Boliyohuto, the head of the Gorontalo district mitigation office, Doni Lahatie, said.    
    Some 3,000 houses were inundated, affecting 15 thousand people in 20 villages in the nine sub-districts, he noted.

         A total of 323 houses were submerged and 1,160 villagers were affected in Bilato.

         The worst affected sub-district was Bilato with floodwaters reaching a height of two meters. Heavy downpours also caused four rivers---Paguyaman,   Marisa, Bionga and Moloopu---to overflow.

          On Oct 26, the Gorontalo authorities declared a state of emergency after floods hit nine sub-districts.

        In South Sulawesi Province, a flood triggered by three days of high tide and heavy rains inundated some 1,000 houses in Palopo city, on Oct. 23.

          The flood caused residents of five villages to flee their flooded homes, with some of them taking refuge at their relatives' houses. The local government has declared the flood as disaster emergency.

        In East Java Province, floods hit Pamekasan city, Bangkalan and Sampang on Madura Island, and in Madiun.

         In Banten Province, floods inundated five villages in Lebak District, Banten Province, following incessant heavy rains on Oct. 23.

            Floodwaters reaching a height of up to 1.5 meter submerged several residential areas, Kaprawi, head of the Lebak disaster mitigation office, informed. ***4***
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(T.F001/A/BESSR/A. Abdussalam) 29-10-2016 17:41:08