Floods In South Kalimantan, BMKG Calls Extreme Rain Occurs In Banjarmasin And Banjarbaru

The South Kalimantan Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) helps vehicles caught in a flood on Jalan Ahmad Yani, Banjarbaru City, Monday, June 4. (ANTARA/Word)

KALSEL - The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) noted that flooding in a number of areas in South Kalimantan (Kalsel) was triggered by high rainfall intensity.

Forecaster for Meteorological Station Syamsudin Noor Banjarmasin Uli Mahanani said extreme weather mainly occurred around Banjarmasin City, Banjarbaru City and Banjar Regency.

"The extreme rainy weather is influenced by the Eddy circulation in the waters of West Kalimantan, so that a convergence (wind meeting) is formed in the South Kalimantan area which causes quite massive rain cloud growth activities," he said in Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan, quoted from Antara, Monday 4 July.

He explained that the rainy conditions with heavy to very heavy intensity lasted for quite a short time from the morning at 06.30 WITA to 09.30 WITA.

As of 12.30 WITA, rain with light to moderate intensity was still observed in the areas of Banjarmasin City, Banjarbaru City and Banjar Regency.

Uli said that based on the analysis of atmospheric dynamics conditions for the South Kalimantan region in the last few days, there was an SST anomaly of +1.0 to +3.0˚C in the Java Sea and Makassar Strait.

This causes the potential for additional mass of water vapor which has a significant effect on cloud formation and increased rainfall in the South Kalimantan region.

Prospects for the next three days, in the South Kalimantan region tend to be cloudy and have the potential for light rain.

The potential for moderate to heavy rain is found in Kotabaru, Tanah Bumbu, Tanah Laut and surrounding areas.

For this reason, the BMKG appeals to the public to remain vigilant and careful about the potential for extreme weather and the impacts it can cause, such as floods, landslides, flash floods, puddles, fallen trees, and slippery roads.

"The public is also advised to continue to update the development of information from the BMKG by utilizing the infoBMKG social media channel, or directly contacting the nearest BMKG office," he said.