Loss Of Methamphetamine Vegetation Triggers Flash Floods In Semarang Regency

Joint officers searched for the bodies of two motorcyclists who were swept away by flash floods in Boja, Kendal Regency, Friday. (ANTARA/ HO-BASARNAS Semarang)

JAKARTA - The Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of Semarang Regency, Central Java, noted that the loss of vetusion in the Mount Merbabu area was the trigger for the flash floods that occurred.

Head of BPBD Semarang Regency Alexander Gunawan stated that the flash flood was also triggered by other factors such as the loss of vegetation on the slopes of Mount Merbabu due to forest and land fires (karhutla) in October 2023 in the Getasan District area.

The results of the BPBD assessment of Semarang Regency and Perhutani, the vegetation in the form of heterogeneous trees to shrubs covering an area of almost 500 hectares, were scorched by Si Jago Merah. The loss of the vegetation then made the slopes of Mount Merbabu lose its ability to absorb rainwater into the ground.

As a result, when it rains, the water flows freely without being absorbed properly towards residential areas located at the foot of the mountain.

"The rest of the forest fires yesterday, about 500 hectares of vegetation were damaged so that when heavy rains occurred in the peak area, nothing was holding back. So the soil and rocks there were carried by the current to our area", Alexander said as quoted by ANTARA, Friday, December 1.

The flash flood incident on the slopes of Mount Merbabu deserves mutual attention. The BNPB Disaster Information and Communication Data Center noted that as of November 29, 2023, there had been 817 forest and land fires incidents throughout Indonesia.

Of these, forest and land fires also occur in mountainous areas and highlands such as Mount Ciremai, Mount Arjuno, Mount Sumbing, Mount Bromo, Gunung Lawu, Mount Merbabu, Gunung Agung, and Gunung Abang.