A resident of Gebangarum Village in Demak Regency, Central Java, pedalling his bicycle through the floodwaters recently. - Antara
JAKARTA: Several regions across the archipelago have been hit by hydrometeorological disasters in recent days, as the country braces for a delayed and shorter dry season this year.
Floods inundated five villages in South Halmahera Regency, North Maluku, on Sunday, forcing the evacuation of approximately 2,400 residents. South Halmahera Regent Hasan Ali Bassam Kasuba said the flooding was triggered by relentless downpours that had battered the area since Saturday (June 21), which caused the Inggoi River to overflow.
“This is the most severe flooding the region has ever faced,” Kasuba said on Sunday, as quoted by Antaranews.
“We’ve evacuated residents to eight temporary shelters."
Ali added that the local Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) had forecasted that the downpours in South Halamahera would persist for at least the next three days. In Parigi Moutong Regency, Central Sulawesi, torrential rain triggered a landslide in a forest near Tirtanagaya Village on Sunday afternoon, burying seven villagers who were collecting firewood.
Search and rescue teams are now racing against time to locate the victims, who include four men, two women and a child.
Moh Rivai, acting head of the local Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), said the search and rescue operation has been hampered by difficult terrain, forcing rescuers to rely on manual efforts as heavy equipment cannot reach the area.
“Manual search efforts pose a high risk for rescuers,” Rivai said on Sunday, as reported by Tribunnews. Torrential rain from Friday to Saturday also triggered flooding in Ketapang Regency, West Kalimantan, inundating 12 villages with water levels ranging from 40cm to two metres.
The flooding affected more than 4,200 families, although most residents chose to remain in their homes. Flooding also hit two residential complexes in South Tangerang, Banten, over the weekend after heavy rainfall caused a local river embankment to collapse.
Nearly 100 houses were inundated, with water levels ranging from 20 cm to 1.8 m. The BMKG had previously forecast a normal dry season this year, expected to begin in April across most regions and peak between June and August.
However, on Saturday, BMKG head Dwikorita Karnawati said much of Indonesia is now likely to experience a shorter-than-expected dry season due to higher-than-normal rainfall observed in recent months.
“Our prediction shows an anomaly of higher-than-normal precipitation […] this is the main basis for forecasting a delayed dry season this year.
As of early June, only 19 per cent of the archipelago has entered the dry season,” she said in a statement. Higher-than-normal rainfall is expected in the southern part of Sumatra island, Java island, Bali, East Nusa Tenggara and West Nusa Tenggara provinces, Dwikorita said.
Some parts of Sumatra island and provinces in Borneo island would be the first to face the dry season, she added. The shift between the rainy and dry season in Indonesia is mostly influenced by the monsoons, a seasonal prevailing wind that lasts for several months.
When the wind blows from Asia to Indonesia, it brings moist air from the South China Sea, triggering the rainy season in the country from October and March.
But when the other monsoon blows from April to November, the wind is dry as it passes through the desert areas in the northern part of Australia. This monsoon results in decreased rainfall in Indonesia, triggering a dry season across the archipelago.
In May this year, Indonesia is experiencing stronger Asian monsoon winds compared to the average of the last two decades. The strong monsoon winds from Asia are disrupting the timing and strength of their counterpart that blows from Australia. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
