BMKG Early Warning, Pontianak Potentially Rob Floods

The tidal flood that occurred on Gajah Mada Street and its surroundings in Pontianak City on Sunday (14/1/2024) (ANTARA/Rendra Oxtora)

PONTIANAK - The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) issued an early warning regarding the potential for tidal flooding in Pontianak City and its surroundings.

"This warning is effective from January 14, 2024, at 06.30 WIB to January 14, 2024, until the next few days," said BMKG forecaster for the Pontianak Maritime Meteorological Station, Bayu Santoso in Pontianak, East Kalimantan (Kaltim), Sunday, January 14, as reported by Antara.

He explained, based on the weather forecast around the Port of Dwikora Pontianak, it showed light rain from Southwest to the Northwest.

Wind speeds are estimated to range from 1 to 10 knots, while wave heights range from 0.1 to 0.3 meters. The maximum wave height can reach 1.7 meters.

"With this weather phenomenon, people who are around the coast, riverbanks, and lower areas are advised to remain alert and alert. The purpose of this appeal is so that people can anticipate the impact of the maximum tide, including the potential for puddles," he said.

Bayu also emphasized the importance of continuing to monitor and update weather information and waves from the BMKG. This will help the community in taking appropriate preventive measures and reducing the risk of tidal flooding.

BMKG hopes that the community can maintain personal security and safety as well as the surrounding environment. This early warning was conveyed as a preventive effort in dealing with potential natural disasters and increasing the vigilance of all levels of society.

Separately, the Acting Secretary of the West Kalimantan Regional Secretary, Muhammad Bari, also appealed to the public to be aware of the potential for flooding in West Kalimantan. He added, according to data from the National BMKG, that the La Nina phenomenon which caused increased rainfall was still ongoing until the end of the first quarter of 2024.

"Of course we need to anticipate this from the start, considering that the potential for La Nina will still last for the next 2 months," he said.

The occurrence of the flood disaster was caused by one of them being due to the decreasing forest cover in upstream areas due to deforestation and forest degradation. For this reason, tree planting activities carried out today are important, because trees have a multidimensional impact on human life.

"In early January alone, West Kalimantan was greeted with flood disasters in 4 regencies, namely Landak, Bengkayang, Kapuas upstream, and Sanggau Regency as well as Pontianak City. Even the Regent of Bengkayang and Acting Regent of Landak have issued emergency response status since early January," he said.

Based on data from the West Kalimantan BPBD, the number of affected residents has reached 214 families in Bengkayang Regency and 170 families in Kapuas Hulu Regency. Meanwhile, in Landak Regency, the affected victims reached 13,558 people.

"Of course we hope that we can minimize incidents like this through the simultaneous planting efforts that we are doing today," said Bari.