Bengkulu Governor Issues Warning Circular for Disaster Ahead of Nataru Holidays

Bengkulu - Governor of Bengkulu Helmi Hasan issued a circular letter (SE) regarding the appeal to welcome the Christmas 2025 and New Year 2026 (Nataru) holidays addressed to all people in the Bengkulu Province to increase vigilance against potential hydrometeorological disasters.

"All people in Bengkulu Province are asked to increase vigilance in carrying out activities, both on land, sea and air, given the potential for extreme weather that can affect safety," said Helmi in Bengkulu, Wednesday, quoted by Antara.

In the SE, the governor explained that the policy followed up on the letter from the Minister of Home Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia as well as the official release of the Bengkulu Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) which predicted the potential for heavy to very heavy rain throughout the Bengkulu region.

The Governor also appealed to the public to avoid disaster-prone locations, especially coastal areas that have the potential to experience waves and high waves.

"The public is expected not to be in places that are potentially prone to disasters, such as coastal areas, given the tendency of high waves and waves," he said.

In addition, residents are asked to actively carry out gotong royong to clean water channels and drainage as a preventive measure against flooding. According to the Governor, community participation is very important in minimizing the impact of disasters.

"Periodically cleaning the water channels and environmental drainage needs to continue as an effort to prevent flooding," he said.

Previously, the Bengkulu Provincial Government mitigated the potential for disasters that may occur during the Christmas 2025 and New Year 2026 periods.

"First, we have disaster mitigation, inventorying disaster-prone areas, prevention, including disaster management and prevention training," said Helmi.

He said the Bengkulu Provincial Government continued to monitor and also held a coordination meeting on disaster mitigation with the Forkompinda to ensure the readiness of the region both to prevent and handle disasters.

"But that's not enough, so we add to Bengkulu's 'sky mitigation', the sky mitigation, please, those on earth, then those in the sky will help you, love those on earth and those in the sky will love you," said Helmi.

The Bengkulu Provincial Government has also held a Coordination Meeting for Forkopimda to ensure the readiness of the region to face the Christmas 2025 and New Year 2026 celebrations, as well as strengthening the steps to anticipate potential disasters.

The meeting prioritized mapping disaster risks, including exposure to SAR operation data throughout 2025 which recorded 38 operations with a total of 277 victims.

Of this number, ship accidents are the biggest threat with 229 victims. The geographical location of Bengkulu which is on the coast of the Indian Ocean makes this area very vulnerable to extreme weather, especially with early warnings related to the seeds of cyclones 93W and 91S from the Tropical Cyclone Warning Center (TCWC).