Residents Affected By Extreme Weather In Bekasi Regency Reached 304 People

Photo: Doc. Antara

JAKARTA - Residents affected by extreme weather in the form of heavy rain accompanied by strong winds in Bekasi Regency, West Java, reached 304 people, as reported by the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB).

In a report received by Antara, in Jakarta, Friday, October 24, the Head of the BNPB Disaster Data, Information and Communication Center, Abdul Muhari, said that the data received stated that 304 people were affected by the extreme weather that had occurred since the last two days, consisting of 169 families.

"They are scattered in nine villages in Bekasi Regency. There have been no reports of casualties due to this incident," he said.

He ensured that a joint team of officers in Bekasi Regency had been deployed to the scene to carry out a number of emergency handling; starting from the distribution of food logistics needs and additional equipment in the form of tarpaulins for sleeping mats.

BNPB has not reported in detail how and how the impact of damage to residents' houses and public facilities was due to the extreme weather that occurred on Thursday (23/10).

However, according to him, the acceleration of recovery from the impact of disasters will take place in tandem with the emergency handling carried out by a joint team of officers under the coordination of the Bekasi Regency BPBD.

He added that BNPB together with the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) carried out a weather modification operation (OMC) in the West Java Province to reduce the potential for hydrometeorological disasters due to high rainfall during the transition period from the dry season to the rainy season.

OMC operations aim to regulate and distribute rainfall so as not to exceed normal limits in densely populated areas and prone to flooding. BNPB uses the Cessa Caravan 2028 PK-YNA aircraft in the implementation of the operation.

"OMC is carried out with a total of two sorties and 1,600 kilograms of material semai," he said.