Floods Hit 4 Villages In Natuna, BPB Difficulties Due To Disconnected Communication Signals

Video screen capture of residents during a flood in Air Ringau Village, East Serasan District, Natuna Regency, Riau Islands Province (Kepri), Sunday (5/3/2023). (ANTARA)

Four villages in Natuna Regency, Riau Islands Province (Kepri) were flooded due to high rainfall that occurred from Saturday to Sunday, March 5 afternoon which resulted in hundreds of houses being flooded and one house being heavily damaged.

"The four villages are located in East Serasan District, namely Air Ringau Village, Payak Village, Air Nusa, and Arung Ayam Village," said Head of the Natuna Regency Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) Raja Darmika, quoted by ANTARA, Sunday, March 5.

He explained that BPBD had made efforts to dispatch joint BPBD officers, Basarnas and TNI AD to the location using the Pelni ship today, but failed.

"The signal was lost in the area, but after coordinating with the sub-district, Koramil and the local police chief, the delivery of personnel assistance from the district was canceled, officers at the sub-district level were still able to handle it, because apart from the flood there was also a landslide the day before," said Raja Darmika.

Of the hundreds of houses affected, it is known that one house of a resident of Payak Village was heavily damaged due to being hit by flash floods on Sunday morning.

"Currently, BPBD continues to record the impact of landslides and floods that have occurred in the last few days in Serasan and East Serasan," he said.

Related to this, the Natuna Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) conveyed extreme weather vigilance in Natuna Regency on March 5 - 8, 2023.

According to the BMKG, be aware of extreme weather due to atmospheric disturbances in the form of 98 s tropical cyclone seeds with pressure 1009 mb and wind speed 20 knots observed in the Natuna Sea southwest of Pontianak moving slowly to the west.

"This increases the growth of rain clouds in the Natuna Islands, especially for the period 5 to 8 March 2023," said Head of BMKG Natuna Forimex Hutagalung.

He conveyed that the weather conditions during this period had the potential for moderate to heavy rain accompanied by lightning and strong winds throughout the Natuna region. Especially on Subi Island, Serasan Island, Midai Island, Tiga Island, East Bunguran, South Bunguran, and Northeastern Bunguran as well as strong winds throughout the Natuna region.

"We urge the people of Natuna to always be aware of the impacts of extreme weather that can trigger landslides such as on the islands of Tiga, Midai, Subi, Serasa, East Bungaran, South Bunguran and Easteastern Bunguran as well as strong winds throughout the Natuna region," he said.

He said the indirect impact in the next 24 hours of 98 S seeds on wave conditions in the Natuna Islands waters was around 2.5 - 4.0 meters in the waters of the Anambas Islands, the waters of the western and southern Natuna Islands, the waters of the Subi Islands to Serasan, Natuna Sea.

Meanwhile, wave heights of 4.9 - 6.0 meters occurred in the north Natuna Sea and northern Natuna Islands waters.

"It is necessary to be aware when heavy rains occur, maximum tides and high waves can trigger the potential for tidal flooding in coastal areas," he said.