Types Of Hydrometeorological Disasters Dominate, Experts Expect Mitigation In Indonesia To Be Improved

Floods in Rangkasbitung in September 2019. Floods are a type of hydrometeorological disaster. (Between/M Good K)

PURWOKERTO - An expert on Hydrology and Water Resources at Jenderal Soedirman University (Unsoed) Purwokerto Yanto reminded that hydrometeorological disaster mitigation needs to be intensified in order to minimize the impact.

"Mitigation of hydrometeorological disasters needs to be intensified because hydrometeorological disasters quite dominate the type and number of disaster events in the world," Yanto said when contacted, quoted from Antara, Friday, June 3.

The lecturer at the Faculty of Engineering and the Department of Civil Engineering at Unsoed explained that in the context of a disaster, mitigation is very necessary.

"Disaster mitigation and adaptation are one unit, there are many aspects of a disaster that can be done as part of mitigation efforts," he said, as quoted by Antara.

For example, he said, spatial management based on disaster mitigation, control of land subsidence on the coast and reforestation in upstream watersheds.

Yanto added that a hydrometeorological disaster is a disaster that is influenced by fluctuations in the presence of water in it, including rainfall.

These disasters, he added, could include floods, landslides, strong winds and so on which could be affected by changing seasons.

"Climate change due to global warming is believed to be an important factor in increasing hydrometeorological disasters," he said.

Meanwhile, he also added, apart from mitigation, disaster management programs also require collaboration.

"Disasters have a broad and complex spatial dimension. Thus, mitigation efforts require contributions from many parties, including the government, the private sector, academics, mass organizations and also financial institutions," he added.

Therefore, he said, a participatory and collaborative approach requires an active role from all parties.

"Regarding this participatory and collaborative approach, the government's role is very central," he said.

Meanwhile, he added, education and socialization regarding disaster mitigation must continue to be intensified in order to increase public awareness and understanding of disaster mitigation.

"Education about mitigation can be done from an early age by incorporating it into the education curriculum from elementary to tertiary levels," he concluded.