South Kalimantan Police Chief Orders Police Officers To Be Prepared For Floods

South Kalimantan Police Chief Inspector General Rikwanto/ANTARA

BANJARMASIN - South Kalimantan Police Chief Inspector General Rikwanto ordered 13 police stations in the area to be prepared for disasters, especially areas that have been prone to flooding during the rainy season like now.

"Currently, it rains almost every day, some places have inundation, although it is not extreme. So before the flood occurs, we must be ready," he said in Banjarmasin, quoted by Antara, Friday, November 12.

Rikwanto said the importance of the deployment of troops as a form of readiness of personnel and equipment as well as other supporting components in dealing with disasters.

At the regional police level, the Directorate of Polairud and Samapta as well as the Mobile Brigade Unit were also on standby to assist if at any time needed to support disaster management.

"We ask the public to be vigilant. If there are signs of flooding, immediately report them so we can provide assistance," said the South Kalimantan Police Chief.

For members, Inspector General Rikwanto asked for more frequent patrols to monitor the flow of water in the river so that they can anticipate if a flood strikes at any time, such as the big flood that occurred in January 2021.

Meanwhile, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) warned of La Nina activity that triggered extreme weather in South Kalimantan.

In addition to the natural phenomenon that causes the air to feel colder and experience higher rainfall, the presence of wind bends in the South Kalimantan region also causes air masses to gather to trigger the growth of clouds that cause bad weather.

Heavy rains with a fairly high intensity accompanied by lightning and strong winds in the past week have been evenly distributed throughout the South Kalimantan region, thus starting to cause inundation and exacerbated by high tides such as in Banjarmasin City.