3 Regions In NTT Experience Extreme Drought 61 Days Without Rain, BMKG Warns Forest Fires

Illustration - Barren agricultural land during the dry season in Kupang Regency, Timor Island, NTT. (AMONG)

KUPANG - Kupang Climatology Station, Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) reported that 3 areas in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) were still hit by extreme drought with conditions of the Extremely Long Day Without Rain (HTH).

"The area affected by this extreme drought has an extreme long HTH of more than 61 days", said BMKG Kupang Class II Climatology Station Head Rahmattulloh Adji in Kupang, Antara, Monday, October 25.

He said it was related to early warning of potential meteorological droughts in NTT and efforts to anticipate the impact.

The three areas that are still hit by extreme drought are Kupang Regency in West Kupang, Sabu Raijua Regency in Hawu Mehara, Raijua, West Sabu, Sabu Liae, Central Sabu and East Sabu.

In addition, Rote Ndao Regency is located in Lobalain, Ndao Nuse, West Rote, Southwest Rote, Northwest Rote, South Roto, Central Rote, and East Rote.

These areas, he said, were still hit by extreme drought with extremely long HTH, while generally other areas in NTT experienced very short HTH (1-5 days).

Rahmattulloh Adji said that based on the prediction of the chance of rain, it shows that in a small part of NTT, there will still be very low rainfall (less than 20 mm/dasarian) with a 71-100 percent chance.

Therefore, he said, vigilance is needed regarding the threat of drought by taking anticipatory steps such as saving on the use of clean water.

In addition, be aware of the occurrence of forest and land fires and develop agricultural cultivation that does not require a lot of water.