Heavy rain, strong winds and high waves are forecast for eastern Indonesia over the next three days due to Tropical Cyclone Lili.
AMBON, KOMPAS — Tropical Cyclone Lili has affected the four islands of Moa, Letti, Lakor and Luang in Southwest Maluku regency, Maluku. Strong winds, heavy rainfall and high waves have damaged several houses and a reservoir, as well as devastated coastal settlements, caused flooding and disrupted telecommunications services in several areas. Inter-island transportation has been halted due to high waves.
John Pattinama, the head of the Southwest Maluku Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), said on Thursday (May 9, 2019) when contacted from Ambon that around 50 families were evacuated from residential areas submerged by 1.5-meter-high floodwaters in the regency capital of Tiakur on Moa – a first for the island. The figure did not include evacuations neighboring villages.
Lakor, Letti and Luang islands, which are not far from Moa, also experienced similar conditions. On Letti, the cyclone destroyed a new reservoir, and evacuations have continued since Thursday morning. Communication to Letti was disrupted from Thursday afternoon to Thursday evening. On Luang and Lakor, strong winds and high waves damaged several facilities.
John said that poor telecommunications in the archipelagic regency and high waves had hindered the efforts of disaster mitigation teams to gather information. Southwest Maluku, which borders Australia and Timor Leste, is still partly isolated.
Flights from Ambon’s Pattimura International Airport to Tiakur’s Jos Orno Imsula Airport were canceled due to bad weather, and would recommence once weather conditions improved. "There are strong winds and heavy rain [at Tiakur airport]," Wilhemina Paays, of the Pattimura Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) in Ambon, said in an official statement. The condition was extremely dangerous for airplanes.
Early warning
BMKG chair Dwikorita Karnawati issued an early warning on extreme weather over the next three days for parts of eastern Indonesia and Timor Leste. Apart from heavy rainfall, the tropical cyclone also caused strong winds and high waves.
High rainfall intensity could potentially occur over southeast Maluku, the eastern part of East Nusa Tenggara and Timor Leste. Meanwhile, winds of above 25 knots (48 km per hour) are likely to occur in East Nusa Tenggara, Maluku and southern Papua. Climate researcher and BMKG climate and air quality information head Siswanto said the cyclone had formed from anomalous surface temperatures of more than 29 degrees Celsius in the Aru Sea and the Timor Sea. (FRN/AIK