INDONESIA BRACES FOR HYDROMETEOROLOGICAL DISASTERS IN EARLY 2017

Jakarta, Jan 12 , 2017(Antara) - Floods and landslides have hit several Indonesian provinces, such as West Nusa Tenggara, Aceh Darussalam, West Sumatra, and East Kalimantan, over the last several weeks, with the worst one devastating Bima and claiming four lives.

         Natural disasters, in fact, have been forecast by the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), as the country is currently being affected by La Nina natural phenomenon, known for causing torrential downpours and widespread flooding across the country.

         The people should remain vigilant against hydrometeorological disasters during the January-April and November-December 2017 period, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, the BNPB spokesman, had cautioned in December 2016.

         Major flash floods had inundated Bima, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), on December 21-23, 2016, killing four people and causing severe damage to property.     
    Flash floods have hit Bima City and four sub-districts in Bima District, Sumbawa Island, on December 21. Furthermore, subsequent flooding as high as one to three meters had occurred in Bima City on December 23.

         The floods had inundated 33 sub-districts in NTB's five districts, home to a total of 105,000 people. The flooding was triggered by incessant heavy rains that also caused at least two rivers to break their banks. 
    The flash floods had also washed away 121 houses and damaged dozens of other residences, forcing 1,300 people to flee their homes.        

    A report estimated that the floods affected 725 hectares of rice fields, causing Rp7.7 billion worth of damage and also ruined 177.5 hectares of corn fields, with the losses estimated to reach Rp3.35 billion.

         The flooding prompted Vice President M. Jusuf Kalla, Social Affairs Minister Khofifah Indar Parawansa, and Head of the National Disaster Management Agency Willem Rampangilei to visit Bima in late December 2016.

         Parawansa revisited Bima Municipality and Bima District on January 10, 2017, to ensure all victims had received life insurance and other forms of social assistance.

         The social affairs ministry had distributed logistics, social assistance, and other items worth Rp6.9 billion to the victims, he remarked.

        The local authorities have declared a flood emergency response period until January 19, 2017, in Bima.

        "Two weeks after the flash floods in Bima on December 21 and 23, the situation has not fully recovered," Nugroho remarked in a written statement recently.

         He affirmed that following the flash floods, some problems were still being encountered in areas, such as education, garbage handling, health, and the refugee crisis, which must be resolved, therefore, it was decided to extend the emergency response period for 14 days.

         Relief aid has come from various parties, including from the Malaysian government that provided 5,000 ringgit for the Bima flood victims.

          The assistance was handed out by Chief Minister of the Malaysian state of Perak Diraja Zamry Abdul Kadir to NTB Governor TGH Muhammad Zainul Majdi.

          In West Sumatra, floods and landslides had struck West Pasaman District and South Pesisir in early January.

          More than 100 homes were inundated, and land transportation between West Pasaman and Pasaman Districts was cut off, Head of the West Pasaman Disaster Mitigation Office Try Wahluyo stated.

         Torrential rains that had fallen for days also caused the Batang Sinuruik River to overflow.

            A landslide struck Jorong Paraman in the same district, cutting off a main road in the village.

           Meanwhile, thousands of residential houses in South Pesisir District,  were inundated due to incessant rains.

          The floodwaters had inundated thousands of houses in the sub-districts of Bayang, North Bayang, IV Jurai, and Batang Kapas in the district of South Pesisir, Head of the Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency of South Pesisir Prinurdin stated.

           The value of losses incurred due to the floods was estimated to reach hundreds of billions of rupiah owing to damage to roads, bridges, telecommunication and electricity networks, public facilities, as well as local business activities.

        In Aceh Province, also on Sumatra Island, floods triggered by incessant heavy rains submerged hundreds of houses in the district of West Aceh, in January 2017.

         The downpours had caused Mereubo and Woyla Rivers to overflow, Faisal, a local resident, said.

         Flooding was reported in Blang Beurandang Village located in the Johan Pahlawan Sub-district, and nearly all villages located in the sub-districts of Sungai Mas, West Woyla, East Woyla, and Arongan Lambalek.

         Swift response teams have been deployed to help flood victims, Head of the West Aceh Disaster Mitigation Office (BPBD) Iraidi Yus stated.

          Indonesia was battered by 2,342 natural disasters in 2016, the highest in the past 14 years, making it one of the most violent years in recent memory.

          This was a 35 percent increase on the 1,732 natural disaster recorded in 2015.

           As many as 522 people were killed, and some three million others were affected or displaced in the disasters, which also damaged at least 70 thousand houses. The nation lost tens of trillions of rupiahs due to the catastrophes.     
    Ninety-two percent of the natural disasters that hit Indonesia during last year were hydro-meteorological in nature - floods, landslides, and whirlwinds.

         The country was stricken by 766 floods (up 52 percent from 2015), 612 landslides (up 19 percent), and 669 whirlwinds (up 15 percent).        
    Flooding claimed 147 lives and affected 2.72 million people. Landslides killed 188 people, an increase from 135 in 2015.

          Natural disasters have caused a lot of suffering, mostly among the poor, said Nugroho in a statement issued on Dec 29, 2016.    
   "Surveys in several regions show that the poor people have suffered more because of the natural disasters. Imagine, those living along Bengawan Solo River have been hit by floods five times a year, and in Sampang (Madura) 15 times a year, on average," he said.

          He called on the media to help promote greater awareness of disasters among the public.

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