RELOCATION OF PONOROGO LANDSLIDE VICTIMS PREFERRED by Fardah

Jakarta, April 6, 2017 (Antara)- A major landslide that buried 28 people and 35 homes in Banaran Village, Pulung Sub-district, Ponorogo District, East Java Province, has caused national concern that prompted Social Affairs Minister Khofifah Indar Parawansa to visit the disaster-hit area soon after the disaster occurred on April 1, 2017.
       Due to incessant heavy rains and difficult terrain, only three bodies have been found so far, while the remaining 25 are feared still buried under thick mud and rubble.
         A 1,640-member  joint search and rescue team that comprises , among others, volunteers, disaster mitigation officers, police and military officers, has continued to look for missing victims.
          The landslide has injured at least 17 people and displaced 178 others, while three survivors were rescued immediately after the disaster.
         Both Minister Khofifah and Chief of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Willem Rampangilei, have strongly recommended a relocation of villagers affected by the landslide.
        Relocation is a must as a study has shown that the area is highly prone to landslide because the gradient of Gede cliff in the village, is 60 degrees.
        The study was conducted by the Yogyakarta-based University of Gadjah Mada in cooperation with the BNPB and the Center of Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation.     
     Spatial change of land use and heavy rains were among the factors that triggered the deadly landslide, according to the study.

RELIEF AID, EQUIPMENT RUSHED TO VICTIMS OF GARUT FLOODING by Fardah

     Jakarta, Sept 22, 2016 (Antara) - Indonesia is in mourning following the tragedy in Garut District, West Java Province, where flash floods have led to at least 23 deaths and left 18 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 Sept. 20 evening.

         Dr Slamet Public Hospital, Tarogong Kidul police office, main roads, school buildings, and residential areas were submerged by floodwaters, which reached a height of up to two meters in one area, according to an eye witness.

         The flood-affected sub-districts included Bayongbong, Garut City, Banyuresmi, Tarogong Kaler, Tarogong Kidul, Karang Pawitan, and Samarang. 
     Search efforts are still underway for the missing people, involving a joint Search and Rescue Team, which includes officers of the local Search and Rescue office (Basarnas), the Regional Disaster Mitigation office (BPBD), the military and the police, as well as Red Cross agents and volunteers, according to spokesman of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.  

LANDSLIDES, NO. 1 KILLER IN INDONESIA IN 2014 by Fardah

    Jakarta, April 29, 2015 (Antara) -  Being located in the Pacific's ring of fire and comprising over 17 thousand islands, Indonesia is prone to natural disasters, particularly whirlwinds, floods and landslides.

        During 2014, some 1,525 disaster events occurred in the archipelagic country, killing 566 people, displacing 2.66 million others, and damaging over 51,000 homes and hundreds of public facilities, according to spokesman of the  National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Sutopo Purwo Nugroho earlier this year.

        Ninety-nine percent of the natural disasters hitting Indonesia in 2014 were hydro-meteorological in nature -- floods, landslides, and whirlwinds.

        The Agency released data showing that 496 instances of whirlwinds,  458 floods, and 413 landslides affected Indonesia last year.

        Landslides led to 338 deaths, displaced 79,341 residents, and damaged 5,814 houses in Indonesia last year, according to Nugroho.