Preparing to Anticipate Disasters

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

A resident\'s house damaged by a flash flood in Cibuntu Village, Pasawahan Village, Cicurug District, Sukabumi Regency, West Java, Tuesday (9/22/2020).

Flash flooding that occurred in Cicurug, Sukabumi regency, West Java on Monday (21/9/2020), has caused us not only to grieve but also to become worried. Disasters still happen repeatedly.

Flash floods are one of the hydrometeorological disasters that can be anticipated based on forecasts from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG). Therefore, local governments, from the provincial to regency and city levels, should have anticipated all possible impacts of the heavy rain.

Hydrometeorological disasters are disasters that are influenced by weather factors. According to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), the majority of disasters in Indonesia are caused by hydrometeorological activity.

In 2019, for example, there were 3,731 hydrometeorological disasters, mostly storms, floods and landslides. Meanwhile, only 37 geological disasters were in the form of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. As a result, 478 victims died, 109 were missing, and 6.1 million people were forced to evacuate. Not to mention tens of thousands of houses and public facilities were damaged, such as schools and health and religious centers.

This is very worrying due to the fact that the frequency and intensity of disasters in Indonesia have continued to increase in the last 15 years.

Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, then-head of the Center for Data, Information and Public Relations of the BNPB (2016), once warned that 63.7 million Indonesians were at risk of flooding and more than 40 million people faced the risk of landslides. This is very worrying due to the fact that the frequency and intensity of disasters in Indonesia have continued to increase in the last 15 years.

So far, climate change and extreme weather have been blamed, even though the main factors are massive environmental damage and poor governance. We know that development, especially in Java, has exceeded its ecological carrying capacity. Land use conversion causes an area to lose its natural flood control. The question then is, have any efforts been made? Are the efforts of those responsible in the regions adequate to protect the safety and welfare of their people?

KOMPAS/RADITYA HELABUMI

Floods in the Green Garden area, Kedoya, West Jakarta, on Tuesday (22/9/2020). The rain that flushed most areas in Jakarta since Monday (21/9) evening and water sent from the upper reaches of the Ciliwung river caused a number of areas in Jakarta to flood.

We know the answer, with the flash floods that were still occurring on Monday evening. It is our duty to remind people that environmental conditions should immediately be restored. In the short term, local governments need to use a map of disaster-prone areas as a guide for anticipation, especially in areas that are already suspected to be prone to landslides. Moreover, the rain will continue to fall.

In the long term, the same map must become the basis for a spatial and territorial plan that is adhered to by all parties, be part of comprehensive disaster management, as well as building a healthy and safe habitat.

With the implementation of the upcoming regional elections, local governments should know that disaster mitigation can be the key to the sustainability of their governments.

Local governments also need to build an early warning system and mitigation protocols if disasters cannot be avoided. These protocols are important amid the Covid-19 pandemic so that all efforts will not be in vain.