Pamekasan BPBD Issues Flood Alert Early Warning

BPBD officers from the Pamekasan Regency Government, East Java, inspect the location of the landslide cliff disaster in Palengaan Laok Village, Palengaan District, Pamekasan. (Abd Aziz)

PAMEKASAN - The Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of the Pamekasan Regency, East Java, conveyed an early warning alert for flooding in the area, following heavy rains in a number of areas since morning and until Friday night.

"Residents who need to increase their vigilance live along the Semajid River in Pamekasan City District and Pademawu District," said spokesman for the BPBD Disaster Preparedness Team of the Pamekasan Regency Government, Agus Budianto, quoted by Antara, Friday, May 27.

This early warning for flood alerts by the BPBD of the Pamekasan Regency Government is based on the latest developments regarding water levels in a number of dams in Pamekasan. These include Samiran Dam, Klampar Dam, Blumbungan Dam and Bulai Dam, Pamekasan.

Until around 18.50 WIB, the water level on the alert scale at Samiran Dam reached 80 cm, Klampar 10 cm, Blumbungan 10 cm, and at Bulai Dam 10 cm.

Meanwhile, on the one hand, the condition of the sea water is in high tide, so that the water in the river cannot flow into the sea.

"On this basis, the BPBD of the Pamekasan Regency Government has set an alert status, and asked the public to increase vigilance, especially those living along the river," he said.

In addition to asking the public to be aware of the potential for flood disasters, other types of disasters that also need to be watched out for are strong winds and landslides.

According to the Coordinator of the BPBD Rapid Response Team (TRC) of the Pamekasan Regency Government, Budi Cahyono, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) released that bad weather has the potential to occur in Pamekasan and East Java in general in the next few days.

"The forecast for this potential bad weather is because it is currently in a transition period, namely from the rainy season to the dry season," said Budi.

Budi said that he had asked the team to increase awareness and convey socialization directly to residents living in disaster-prone areas, so that they could be anticipated earlier.

"Moreover, a number of catastrophic events have occurred in Pamekasan in the last three days, namely strong winds and landslides," he said.

Strong winds occurred in Pegagan Village, Pademawu District and damaged one of the residents' houses, while a landslide caused by heavy rains occurred in Palengaan Laok Village, Palengaan District, Pamekasan.