BMKG Had Warned Extreme Weather 8 Days Before Flash Floods And Sumatran Landslides

JAKARTA - The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) confirmed that it had issued an early warning regarding the potential for extreme weather in North Sumatra eight days before flash floods hit, as well as four days earlier for Aceh and West Sumatra.

Head of BMKG, Teuku Faisal Fathani said, because suddenly there was an anomaly of weather in the northern region of Indonesia, where rain spilled in one day, causing landslides and flash floods in the three provinces.

"So eight days earlier, we detected that extreme weather would occur because there was an anomaly in the atmosphere, there was an Asian monsoon, shouting cold from the north. So with this condition we predict that there will be extreme weather for eight days. But the cyclone seeds began to form on November 21, at 7 UTC, so that's where we detect cyclone seeds, and we are releasing press release again," said Syafii at the Parliament Complex, Senayan, Jakarta, Tuesday, December 2.

"So our press release, our communication to the local government is that all stakeholders last for several stages. So 4 days before the cyclone, which was on November 25, 2025, the seeds were detected on November 21, 2025, we disseminated information, SMS WA blasting and so on in BPPD groups in the regions," he continued.

Syafii then explained why disaster preparedness in the area was still not optimal. He said that BMKG does not feel that Indonesia is an area prone to cyclones, which usually occurs in areas that are above 5 degrees north latitude or 5 degrees south latitude.

"Like Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, that's a cyclone area, even above its north of Papua, the annual cyclone seeds are formed moving across the Philippines stopping in the South China Sea more than 10 times a year, they are better prepared," he explained.

"Well, we tropical cyclones are not a common occurrence, because we are not more than 5 degrees or 5 degrees north latitude or south latitude. So this is an incident caused by weather and atmospheric anomalies so that cyclones occur, so we are in principle not yet ready to face disasters with an escalation of this magnitude," continued Syafii.

However, for hydrometeorological disasters, Syafii said that there have been many mitigations that have BMKG prepared before this disaster occurred.

"So when information is given about the cyclone, there is quite a lot of preparation, we prepare all personnel in the area, the drainage is starting to be cleaned so that it is ready to drain water, then everyone is on standby, the community is also preparing food ingredients and so on so that later when there is isolation it can last longer. So there are a lot of preparations and of course coordinated by BNPB," he explained.

However, Syafii ensured that the extreme weather anomaly that occurred in Indonesian territory would not trigger a megathrust.

"It's not related between extreme weather and megathrust," he concluded.