Dio Suhenda, Jakarta – As extreme hydrometeorological events dominated the national headlines, 2025 became another deadly year in terms of disasters, disasters that revealed the country's inadequate mitigation efforts in the face of intensifying climate extremes and worsening environmental degradation.
Indonesia endured 3,133 disasters so far this year, according to data as of Saturday from the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB). At least 1,530 people died as a result of these events, making 2025 the deadliest recent year for disasters, excluding casualties from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The impact, however, extended far beyond fatalities, as 7,751 people were injured and around 10.3 million people, or over 3 percent of the national population, were displaced this year; the highest figure since 2019. More than 186,000 houses and public buildings were either damaged or destroyed.
The deadliest disaster of the year was the cyclone-induced floods and landslides in Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra, which killed nearly 1,100 people, making it the deadliest single event since the 2018 Central Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami, which killed more than 4,000.
Beyond the human toll, the disasters also severed roads and bridges and disrupted communication networks across the three provinces, leaving millions isolated for weeks as emergency teams struggled to reach cut-off areas.
Deadly floods
According to BNPB data, floods made up half of all recorded disasters this year with 1,594 cases. Extreme weather and forest and land fires followed with 657 and 546 cases, respectively.
A series of major floods also struck other regions throughout the year, including in March, when intense rainfall brought the worst inundation in years in the Greater Jakarta area. Two fatalities were reported, and Bekasi in West Java was among the hardest-hit areas with at least 16 districts flooded and around 16,000 people displaced.
In September, Bali saw flash floods and landslides hitting seven regencies and cities, including the provincial capital of Denpasar. At least 19 people died in the worst flooding in the province in the past years.
The disasters were triggered by extreme weather, including heavy rain of 380 millimeters of precipitation in a single day, which is roughly equivalent to up to two months of typical rain in the province.
The wave of fatal disasters, particularly the recent ones in northern Sumatra, has raised scrutiny of environmental degradation, which experts have blamed for causing widespread damage in affected areas.
On multiple occasions, officials have acknowledged damaged ecosystems exacerbated the scale of destruction. President Prabowo Subianto himself emphasized the need for stronger climate action during a recent cabinet meeting in Jakarta.
But calls mount for the government to more urgently address large-scale deforestation and weak enforcement of environmental regulations.
In three flood- and landslide-affected Sumatran regions, an estimated 1.4 million hectares of forest had been cleared between 2016 and 2025 for commercial purposes such as plantations and mining, according to the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi).
Aside from stronger disaster preparedness, Indonesia also needs tighter controls to prevent further environmental damage, especially in light of increasingly intense hydrometeorological hazards, warns disaster studies expert Djati Mardiatno at Gadjah Mada University (UGM).
"Warnings had been issued a week before the disaster hit," Djati said. "The risks should have been identifiable and anticipated, with worst-case scenarios used to guide early action. Yet, this was not the case."
He urged central and local administrations to conduct and strictly follow disaster risk assessments to ensure environmental risks are accounted for in development measures in hazard-prone areas.
"These assessments are critical. They should serve as guardrails: not to halt development, but to ensure mitigation and preparedness are included," Djati said. "For areas already degraded, recovery may take a decade, but it must begin now."
A new normal
Indonesia is not out of the woods yet, with the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) warning of potential tropical cyclones forming in several regions during the year-end holidays, when an estimated 120 million Indonesians are expected to travel.
Tropical cyclones, like Senyar that made landfall in Sumatra in late November and triggered the floods and landslides, were once considered highly unlikely to form near the equator, with studies suggesting they might occur only once every several hundred years.
But climate change is shifting those understandings, said climatologist Edvin Aldrian at the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN).
"Tropical cyclones typically do not cross the equator. We thought it wouldn't happen, but it did," Edvin said. "This shows that climate anomalies are occurring more frequently and could become normal in the future."
The increasing likelihood of such climate anomalies, he went on to say, underlined the insufficiency of Indonesia's current disaster preparedness and mitigation strategies. He urged the government to prepare for more extreme hydrometeorological hazards.
The possibility of even heavier rainfall "certainly exists", Edvin added. "This must be taken into account and monitored carefully."
While strengthening environmental oversight and disaster preparedness remains essential, the climatologist added the public also has a role to play by taking better care of the environment.
Source: https://asianews.network/yearender-climate-extremes-expose-indonesias-disaster-vulnerabilities