National Disaster Management Agency Records 873 Natural Disasters Occurring Until March 21, Mostly Floods

Illustration (Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) recorded that 873 natural disasters occurred in the country in the period January 1 to March 21, 2021.

As reported by Antara, Monday, March 22, based on a written statement from the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), the predominant natural disasters were floods followed by tornadoes and landslides.

In detail during that period, there were 16 earthquakes, 80 forest/land fires, 369 floods, 175 landslides, 220 tornado events, and 12 tidal waves and abrasion events.

These natural disasters caused as many as 4,138,853 people affected and evacuated, while 277 people died and 12 were missing, and 12,421 people were injured.

Meanwhile, natural disasters resulted in damage to 54,430 housing units consisting of 4,984 housing units severely damaged, 5,907 housing units moderately damaged, and 43,539 houses slightly damaged.

In addition, 1,709 public facilities were damaged, including 860 educational facilities, 663 worship facilities, and 186 health facilities. Then, as many as 290 office facilities and 106 bridges were damaged.

Previously, the Head of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) Doni Monardo said that the implementation of disaster literacy must be carried out early on in order to improve preparedness.

"Disaster literacy must be carried out since elementary school, because the earlier, the better it will be in disaster management," he said.

He said that literacy from an early age can provide knowledge to the community about the importance of disaster mitigation.

"Socialization will continue at any time to remind the public because disasters can occur at any time," he said.