Dozens Of Roofs Of Houses In Yogyakarta Damaged By Tornadoes, BPBD Distributes Aid

Tornado illustration. (Pixabay)

YOGYAKARTA - A tornado hit the city of Yogyakarta on Thursday, May 5, causing dozens of roofs to be damaged and a number of trees toppled. The local Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) today distributed aid in the form of building materials for house repairs.

"However, please understand that this assistance is for salvage purposes in order to ensure that the housing remains functional. So the assistance provided has not yet reached the level of being livable," said the Head of the Yogyakarta City Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), Nur Hidayat in Yogyakarta, Thursday 19 May.

The building materials given to the victims of the tornado included zinc and galvanum roofing to wood to support the roof.

Each hurricane victim received assistance with different building materials according to the level and type of damage to the house.

The hurricane that occurred in early May in the city of Yogyakarta caused damage to as many as 69 houses located in a number of areas with varying scales of damage from light, moderate to severe.

“We are grateful that the community has not only sat idle waiting for help from the government, but many have made self-help efforts to repair it. There are 56 houses that have been repaired independently," he said quoting Antara.

In addition to receiving assistance from the Yogyakarta City BPBD, tornado victims also received assistance from the Yogyakarta City National Amil Zakat Agency (Baznas) with an assistance value of Rp. 5 million.

Deputy Mayor of Yogyakarta Heroe Poerwadi said the assistance distributed by BPBD had not been able to restore damaged houses to normal.

"Of course, homeowners still have to add so that the house can be repaired as usual. But at least, this assistance is a form of togetherness to strengthen each other," he said.

Heroe hopes that the community will gain a lot of experience from the calamity that befell them. Among other things, ensuring the condition of the building and the construction of the house is built with a good and sturdy structure.

“We never know when disasters and calamities will come. Therefore, mitigation efforts need to be carried out, one of which is ensuring the building has a good structure and construction so that it can withstand earthquakes, strong winds or other disasters," he said.

Meanwhile, the Head of the Sanggrahan Village Rukun, Semaki Supadi Village, expressed his gratitude because the residents received assistance to repair houses damaged by the hurricane.

“There are three residents who received assistance from the government. The house is moderately damaged and it still needs help," he said.

Other residents who are also victims have partially repaired their houses and there is assistance from other parties distributed by politicians and political parties.

However, he continued, there were several damaged houses that were not proposed to receive assistance because the owners were planning to demolish the building. "But because there was a strong wind, the building had already collapsed so no assistance was proposed," he said.