Weather Anomaly Not to Blame for Natural Disasters

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There is plenty of evidence pointing to meteorological changes, but extreme weather is not the only factor behind floods and landslides, although the responses of regional governments have not changed much.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Floods and landslides hit many areas last week following hours of heavy rainfall. Amid the many impacts of natural disasters, weather anomalies are often blamed as the main culprit. A number of areas were still flooded on Sunday, such as Gresik regency in East Java, and Pulang Pisau district in Central Kalimantan.s

Communities in several regions are still experiencing the effects of receding floodwaters, including Central Bengkulu (Bengkulu) and Sembilan Island (South Kalimantan), as well as a number of Sulawesi districts like Sigi, Manado, Jeneponto, Enrekang, Luwu, Tana Toraja, and Selayar. People have been evacuated Sentani, Jayapura, residents were evacuated when Lake Sentani overflowed.

Evacuation points have also been prepared in a number of regions. "Efforts to manage the flooding, including post-flood recovery, are still being prepared," said Tana Toraja Deputy Regent Viktor Datuan Batara.

The flooding in Toraja was caused by the overflowing Saddang River. A number of regions are facing difficulties in disaster management and post-disaster recovery. Regional policymakers still depend on the central government, especially in terms of funding.

Monitoring

Indonesia’s weather patterns must be closely monitored amid the difficulties in managing the emergencies of natural disasters, rehabilitation and reconstruction.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has forecast heavy rainfall for Tuesday in a number of regions including Sumatra, Kalimantan, West Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa Tenggara, Maluku and Papua, due to the air currents in the

Data from the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) shows 1,586 disasters occurred in Indonesia between January and April that killed 325 people, with 113 missing, 1,439 injured, and about 996,143 displaced. The figures do not include losses from damage to infrastructure and homes.

More than 98 percent of the disasters involved flooding, flash floods, landslides and tornadoes. Compared to the same period in 2018, the frequency of disasters had increased 7.2 percent.

"The number of fatalities increased 192 percent and the number of injured victims increased 212 percent," BNPB information and public relations head Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said on Saturday in Jakarta.

The frequency and impact of hydrometeorological disasters have indeed increased due to global warming, which has caused an extreme change in rainfall patterns and increased the intensity and risk of tropical cyclones. However, disasters are also linked to environmental and spatial management.

According to Siswanto, a climate researcher and the head of the BMKG climate information and air quality, the rainfall pattern in Indonesia is changing. Heavy to extreme rainfall increased rapidly in 1961-2010, even though the annual average tended to remain the same, or even decreaed.

Although there was much evidence of meteorological changes, Siswanto said that disasters are also related to a region’s susceptibility, which depended on changes in land use, population growth, urbanization, waste and sedimentation, and the local culture.

Upstream conditions

In Sigi district, the large number of timber logs that were carried away to destroy many homes indicated damage in the upstream area. "I did not say there was illegal logging, but after I checked, cut marks were found. That means something happened," said Sigi Regent Irwan Lapatta.

Damage was also found upstream of the Jeneberang Watershed in South Sulawesi, which caused massive flooding in late January. Damage to the forests of the Cycloop Mountains in Papua, caused flash floods in Sentani that killed more than 100 people.

At the end of March, a number of areas in Bengkulu saw large flooding following several hours of heavy rain. Some parties suspected damage to the Bengkulu watershed from settlements, plantations and mining.

Ida Bagus Putera Parthama, the watershed and protected forests management director general at the Environment and Forestry Ministry, said that most watersheds were prone to disasters due to their topography, locations on megathrust and in volcanic areas, spatial conditions and land use.

The combination of mismanagement in upstream areas, mistakes in spatial planning and natural factors were the main cause of natural disasters. "Rain is not the only factor," he said.

Another concern was poor disaster mitigation. Floods and landslides were recurring disasters in several areas. However, the disaster response had not changed much.

In Sidoarjo, East Java, for example, flooding due to heavy rainfall again paralyzed traffic on Porong Highway, the main road connecting Surabaya and Pasuruan. Last week’s large flood was the second this year, after the flood in January.

The Sidoarjo regency administration held a number of meetings that included the Brantas River management and the East Java irrigation service. The parties were committed to managing the flooding in Sidoarjo in line with their responsibilities, such as normalizing the Ketapang River.

.However, the flooding has continued. Changes have been made in the city of Surabaya. In neighboring Sidoarjo, authorities have begun to improve the city’s drainage system, routinely dredge rivers, and are building dikes.

Surabaya Mayor Tri Rismaharini said that flooding in the city had reduced drastically over the last nine years. River normalization was an important step in reducing the risk of flooding in urban areas. (AIK/ICH/FLO/RAM/VDL/OKA/REN/NIK/SYA/ETA)

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