Alif Ilham Fajriadi, Jakarta – The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) received 277 reports of disasters in Indonesia from the beginning of the year to Feb. 12, 2024. Around 11,295 houses were damaged as a result.
The head of the data and communication center of BNPB Abdul Muhari said that the number of disasters was obtained from local disaster management agencies across all regencies in Indonesia. "The data is usually verified every three months," he said on Tuesday, Feb. 13.
Referring to BNPB's data, hydrometeorological disasters dominate the statistics, amounting to 98.92 percent. Meanwhile, geological disasters only took up about 1.08 percent of the total amount of disasters in the country so far. The four main disasters were flooding, extreme weather, landslides, and earthquakes.
Abdul asked citizens to up their vigilance amid the high amount of damaged residential buildings due to disasters, especially as the rainy season was expected to peak by the end of February.
According to him, Indonesia's geographical position caused rain to spread unpredictably and more dynamically. "In general, we are still focusing the attention on hydrometeorological disasters, until the end of February," he said.
One of the examples to reflect this phenomenon was the Grobogan Regency, which is currently swamped and flooded in several areas. Similar conditions are seen in Brebes, Sidoarjo, Cilacap, Madiun, and Subang. Residents of these regions are encouraged to increase their vigilance.