Floods and landslides have hit several regions in Indonesia as a higher intensity of rain falls across the archipelago. At least six floods and landslides have occurred in North Sumatra, West Sumatra and West Java in the past week.
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ANTARA FOTO/TRI MAIKO WAHYU
Residents work hand in hand to clean up a part of a road that was destroyed by a landslide in Nagari Kumanis, Sijunjung regency, West Sumatra, on Monday, Oct. 5. The landslide was triggered by heavy rainfall over the last several days.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Floods and landslides have hit several regions in Indonesia as a higher intensity of rain falls across the archipelago. At least six floods and landslides have occurred in North Sumatra, West Sumatra and West Java in the past week.
A landslide in Sintuk village, Pariaman, West Sumatra, on Friday (9/11/2018), claimed the life of Sawitri, 23. She was buried under a 20-meter-high landslide in her backyard.
“The landslide is believed to have been caused by heavy rain. Moreover, the soil here is unstable since the big earthquake that hit Pariaman several years ago,” Sintuk village head Artoni said.
A similarly tragic scene could be found in Bojongsari village, Culamega district, Tasikmalaya regency, West Java. Some 143 homes were heavily damaged as they were hit by a landslide on Saturday (6/10). A number of roads were cut off and buried under the landslide. Hundreds of locals were forced to move to temporary shelters. In four isolated hamlets in Bojongsari, many locals live in simple roadside shelters that are vulnerable to further landslides.
Locals have cleaned up the roads so that motorbikes can pass through. “However, it rains almost every day and the road is buried again,” Bojongsari village head Guruh Ivan Kurniawan said.
Tasikmalaya disaster mitigation agency’s (BPBD) emergency and logistics division head Ria Supriana said that 4,000 locals in Culamega, Cipatujah and Karangnunggal districts were affected by the floods and landslides in southern Tasikmalaya. Tasikmalaya is the region most prone to disasters in West Java.
Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (CVGHM) soil movement mitigation department head Agus Budianto said that locals in disaster-prone regions needed guidance from many parties to improve their disaster-mitigation efforts. Agus said that locals were most at risk in disasters when their mitigation training was neglected.
“We can involve locals in monitoring potential disasters and indicators, including the decrease in water catchment areas, irregular water flow and the presence of cracks in hills or cliffs,” he said.
ANTARA/ADENG BUSTOMI
An aerial view shows the collapsed Pasanggrahan Bridge, which was swept away by a flood in Cipatujah village, Tasikmalaya regency, West Java, on Thursday, Nov. 8. A makeshift bridge linking Tasikmalaya and Garut, is being installed by the Public Works and Housing Ministry and is expected to be completed within five to six days.
Disaster mitigation
Locals in nine districts in Mandailing Natal, North Sumatra, have felt the benefits of disaster-mitigation training. Mandailing Natal BPBD head Yasir Nasution said that locals had learned from an incident on Oct. 12. At the time, a flash flood carried away dozens of homes and schools in Ulu Pungkut district. Lives were lost.
Included among the disaster victims were 12 students whose school building was swept away by the flood. Yasir said that, afterward, locals residing on river banks began to move to safer locations during rainfall. Consequently, when another flash flood occurred on Wednesday (7/11), no lives were lost.
Flood-affected locals in Bandung regency in West Java are taking similar steps. They have prepared independent flood-mitigation efforts. After receding, the floods returned on Friday afternoon. Locals began preparing boats and putting up ropes in narrow alleyways to facilitate their own mobility.
Despite a majority of locals owning two-story homes, several evacuation shelters were prepared. Some 40 residents were moved to a shelter at the Inkanas building in Baleendah district.
Bandung regency BPBD emergency and logistics division head Sudrajat said that several disaster-management posts had been established in Baleendah. These posts are equipped with several boats to evacuate locals from their homes whenever floods reoccur. Sudrajat said that he hoped such preparations could minimize losses at the peak of the rainy season.
“We will continue monitoring possible flooding in local residential areas. Hopefully, locals will be prepared to face the rainy season,” he said.
