Due to the Tornado, Four Schools in South OKU Damaged

JAKARTA - A total of four schools in the South Ogan Komering Ulu (OKU) Regency, South Sumatra (Sumsel), were hit by tornadoes and suffered damage to the roof, but did not cause any casualties.

Head of Emergency and Logistics of the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) South OKU Heri Pramono when contacted from Baturaja, Sunday, said that high rainfall accompanied by strong winds that occurred on Saturday (4/4) around 19.00 WIB caused damage to a number of public facilities in the local area.

Natural disasters also caused waterlogging on the South OKU Regency Road and tree materials fell on the inter-village road until they temporarily hindered the flow of two-wheeled and four-wheeled vehicle traffic.

The four schools that suffered moderate and minor damage include PAUD Bunga Bangsa, TK Pembina Simpang Agung, SD Negeri 2 Simpang Agung and SD Negeri 7 Sinar Mulyo, as well as dozens of stalls in the Simpang Market.

"On average, these public facilities have suffered damage to the roof due to tornadoes," he said.

In addition, he said, tornadoes also caused trees to fall on six main road points between villages, including Simpangan Village, Bungin Campang, Simpang Agung, Sinar Mulyo, Pelangki, and Mehanggin Village.

Regarding the disaster, his party deployed personnel to the location of the natural disaster to clean up the debris of the building's roof that was blown by the tornado so that public facilities that were damaged could be immediately functional again.

BPBD OKU Selatan juga menyebar personel untuk mengevakuasi pohon tumbang di enam titik lokasi agar arus lalu lintas kendaraan kembali normal.

"Currently, the process of cleaning the school roof and fallen trees has been completed. Community activities are now back to normal as before," he said.

Heri appealed to the public to remain vigilant in facing the transitional period or the change of seasons which is marked by hot weather and sudden heavy rain accompanied by strong winds so as not to cause casualties.

"Referring to the BMKG early warning for the period of 1-10 April 2026, the Southern OKU area is in a state of alert for potential extreme weather so that it must be watched together," he said.