340 Houses Damaged By Tornado, Bekasi Regency Government Asks Residents To Gotong Royong

A resident of Sumberjaya Village, South Tambun District, Bekasi Regency, West Java went up the stairs to check the condition of the roof of the house that was destroyed by a tornado. (ANTARA)

BEKASI - As many as 340 houses were damaged by the tornado, the Bekasi Regency Government asked residents to work together (gotong royong) to help residents affected by the disaster in three villages in South Tambun District.

"The treatment was carried out in a crowd, BPBD, Social Service, Disperkimtan, Baznas, PMI, and SAR Brimob are already at the location to help residents affected by the tornado in South Tambun," said Bekasi Regency Regional Secretary Dedy Supriyadi quoted by ANTARA, Thursday 2 March.

The handling includes collecting data on the number of residents affected, food assistance, cleaning debris, and fallen trees, inventorying damaged houses, and providing psychological assistance to victims affected by the disaster.

He said that based on today's data collection report, there was an increase in the number of residents affected by the tornado from 121 houses on Wednesday (1/3) to 340 houses.

A total of 164 houses were damaged in Sumberjaya Village, 102 houses in Mangunjaya Village, and 74 houses in Tridayasakti Village. The data was entered at 19.00 WIB tonight with levels of damage ranging from mild, moderate to severe.

His party ensures that staple food assistance has also been and will continue to be distributed to affected residents through the coordination of the Bekasi Regency Social Service, assisted by volunteers and related elements.

"Repairs to houses, especially those with moderate and severe damage, are being inventoried by officers in the field. Later this can be coordinated with the Disperkimtan and Baznas. PMI personnel and volunteers are also on standby to help restore the mentality of residents, encouraging them," he said.

South Tambun sub-district head Junaefi said that his party had submitted assistance to repair damaged houses to the local government through Baznas and the Bekasi Regency Office of Perkimtan.

"In addition to Disperkimtan also to Baznas yes for requests for repairs of houses categorized as heavily damaged, such as houses that have collapsed and are inhabited by poor families," he said.

Meanwhile, repairs to houses that were categorized as lightly damaged, such as loose roofs, were carried out independently, involving volunteers and the community.

"We are grateful to see residents in the field working together to help the victims. Their mutual cooperation tradition is still high," he said.

Junaefi admitted that the damage to the house as a result of the tornado on Wednesday afternoon was dominated by the roof of the house being dismantled.

"Most of the roofs were blown away by the wind, then the tiles shifted, broke, and in the worst case, a house collapsed," he said.