BNPB: Floods In The Dry Season Become A Global Phenomenon

Screenshot - Head of BNPB Disaster Information and Communication Data Center Abdul Muhari/screenshot

JAKARTA - The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) noted that flood events in the dry season did not only occur in Indonesia, but had become a global phenomenon.

Head of the BNPB Disaster Information and Communication Data Center Abdul Muhari explained that the incident of forest and land fires and floods simultaneously occurred in several countries.

In the forest and land fires incident, one of the concerns was a fire in the state of Hawaii, United States, which forced residents to plunge into the sea.

"In America, in Hawaii, we know that people have to go into the sea because of the tight housing blocks and almost all of the residential blocks that caught fire. So there is no room for people to avoid but jumping into the sea," he said as quoted by ANTARA, Monday, August 21.

BNPB noted that global fires also occurred in Canada and Spain.

Still in Serika, where the state of Hawaii experienced a severe fire, in the state of Alaska, there was a sizeable flood.

Other countries such as Colombia, Pakistan, China, Korea Selaran and India are currently quite large.

"Indeed, the weather phenomenon has been in at least the last 1 month. Not only at the local level in Indonesia but at the global level, it shows quite high variability or event rates with a very significant impact," said Abdul.

In Indonesia, it is recorded that from August 14-20, 2023, there have been 52 disasters dominated by forest and land fires. However, some areas above the equator and especially western Indonesia, there is still rain with a fairly high intensity.

"The floods are focused on Sumatra, West Sumatra and Aceh, while in others we can see that on average hydrometeorology is dominant dry. Forest and land fires are already very dominant as in previous weeks, and drought in Java," said Abdul.