Preparing Regions for Natural Disasters

KOMPAS/WILIBRORDUS MEGANDIKA WICAKSONO

Floods submerged the Yogyakarta-Purwokerto National Road in Kemranjen, Banyumas, Central Java,  on Tuesday (17/11/2020).

The La Nina weather phenomenon increases the threat of hydrometeorology disasters until early 2021. Regional readiness is highly needed to anticipate these disasters.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The La Nina phenomenon, which leads to increasing rainfall intensity, has triggered floods, landslides, tornadoes and flash floods in a number of areas. The threat of these hydrometeorology disasters will increase at the end of 2020, along with the unpreparedness of a number of regions to anticipate it.

In Jakarta, a tidal flood has submerged part of Pari Island in the Thousand Islands. Until Thursday, water levels were still high.

"I’ve lived here since I was a child; it was only in 2020 that tidal flood has risen to residential areas. The worst happened in June, when the water reached the middle of the village with a height of 50-60 centimeters,” Edi Mulyono, the head of neighborhood unit (RT) 001 community unit (RW) 004 of Pari Island village, said on Thursday (19/11/2020).

Also read: 11 People Killed in Landslides

During the tidal flood this time, more than half of the settlements on the island, covering an area of ​​41.32 hectares and inhabited by 395 families, were flooded. Agricultural crops, especially vegetables, were also damaged.

A total of 450 houses in the four villages, namely Pantai Bahagia, Pantai Mekar, Pantai Sederhana and Harapan Jaya, were submerged in water between 30 cm and 50 cm deep.

In the last four days, tidal floods have also inundated residents\' settlements in four villages in Muara Gembong, Bekasi regency, West Java. A total of 450 houses in the four villages, namely Pantai Bahagia, Pantai Mekar, Pantai Sederhana and Harapan Jaya, were submerged in water between 30 cm and 50 cm deep.

Meanwhile, the floods that have occurred since last Tuesday in Cilacap, Central Java, have expanded and killed two people. A total of 19,188 families or 48,528 people were affected by the flood, which inundated 45 villages in 15 districts. As many as 1,323 families with 3,811 people were even forced to flee.

KOMPAS/WILIBRORDUS MEGANDIKA WICAKSONO

Overflow of the Serayu River submerged a house in Grumbul Banjarwaru, Banjarparakan Village, Rawalo District, Banyumas, Central Java,  on Thursday (5/3/2020). The water level reaches 50 centimeters.

Increased rainfall and climate change have also triggered landslides and flash floods, which among other places occurred in Banyumas, Central Java, and Bahorok, Langkat regency, North Sumatra, last Wednesday.

Based on data from the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), since last January, there have been more than 2,530 disasters. As many as 950 of them were floods, 742 tornadoes and 486 landslides. At least 321 people died and 26 people disappeared as a result of the disaster.

Judging from the location, most natural disasters occurred in West Java (505), Central Java (449), East Java (359), Aceh (234) and South Sulawesi (112).

A number of these hydrometeorology disasters have almost the same pattern. The disasters were preceded by hours of heavy rain in the slopes of mountain areas or on rivers whose surrounding environment in the upstream and downstream parts had been damaged.

Risk map

BNPB disaster data, information and communication center head Raditya Jati said that since 2012, his office had updated maps and risk studies based on disaster threats nationally, whose function is to view and analyze areas with low, medium, and high risk of disasters. Disaster risk studies and maps are also owned by the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) at the provincial level.

“Not all districts and cities have risk maps. Further derivatives of the map become a disaster mitigation plan. Since 2020, the Home Ministry has also encouraged regional administrations to implement minimum service standards for disasters," he said.

Several months ago, said Raditya, the BNPB asked Regional Disaster Mitigation Agencies (BPBD) to increase public awareness about hydrometeorology hazards. Each regional head must also always follow information and weather predictions from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) to prevent the fatal impacts of high rainfall.

BMKG analysis shows that the effects of La Nina in November needed to be monitored closely because there has been a 25 percent increase in rain from the usual average. For December, according to the forecast map prepared by the BMKG, the Public Works and Housing Ministry (PUPR), and the Geospatial Information Agency, floods also threaten a number of areas.

KOMPAS/WILIBRORDUS MEGANDIKA WICAKSONO

Residents clean the mud from flooding in Kalisalak Village, Kebasen, Banyumas, Central Java, on Thursday (29/10/2020).

Disasters can be anticipated if weather situations are constantly analyzed. For example, authorities should have been able to anticipate the flash floods in the Landak River, Bahorok, on Wednesday morning. The location of the Landak River, which was hit by flash floods, is close to the tourist area of ​​Bukit Lawang, which was also hit by flash floods in 2003 and killed 200 people.

After the flash floods in Landak River, the North Sumatra governor issued a circular to the regency/municipality administrations to prioritize their disaster budgets, prepare personnel and equipment as well as disseminate updated information to the public.

This year, there have been 691 disasters in North Sumatra, 689 of which were hydrometeorology disasters. The other two were the eruption of Mount Sinabung and the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Papua, the head of the Jayapura BPBD, Jonson Nainggolan, said Jayapura Regent Matius Awoitauw had issued a circular on Oct. 27 calling on the people to be aware of extreme weather from November to March 2021.

They were told to prepare flood barriers, manage water systems from upstream to downstream and setup disaster response teams at the district and village levels.

People are prohibited from clearing land and living on steep mountain slopes because the areas are prone to landslides. They were told to prepare flood barriers, manage water systems from upstream to downstream and setup disaster response teams at the district and village levels. In March 2019, flash floods hit Jayapura, killing 105 people.

Community based

Higher Education Forum for Disaster Risk Reduction chairman Eko Teguh Paripurno said community-based disaster risk management can serve as a mitigation effort. The first step in this concept is to assign a team of activists or volunteers to play a role in raising awareness, education, changing the public paradigm and developing the public’s skills.

KOMPAS/RIZA FATHONI

An official from the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology explains the route of a cloud seeding operation conducted over the Sunda Strait on Jan. 3 (3/1/2020). The mission was part of efforts to mitigate floods in Greater Jakarta. It aimed to trigger rain around the Sunda Strait and eventually reduce rainfall down to 30-40 percent in Greater Jakarta.

In the context of the Citarum River disaster, for example, said Eko, coordination of residents in disaster-prone areas was needed to build collective mitigation. This is done, among others, by raising awareness among residents who live upstream and downstream of the river.

"People in the downstream [area] can remind people in the upstream area not to throw garbage into the river because it can block the river flow and cause flooding," he said.

The Citarum River stretches 279 kilometers from Situ Cisanti in Bandung regency until it flows into the Java Sea. The longest river in West Java crosses 12 regencies/cities.

Eko pointed out that disaster risk management efforts could potentially fail if the community believed they only benefited one party.

These efforts, continued Eko, must also consistently receive the attention of the regional head so that it can become a sustainable development program. So far, the attention of regional heads, or the lack of it, is still a problem. Amid the high rate of conversion in the function of water catchment areas, the risk of disaster is not anticipated. (VAN/MTK/DKA/NSA/AIK/FLO/JOL/TAM/JAL/REN)