REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, PEKANBARU -- Indonesia was ravaged by 1,525 natural disasters in 2014 that claimed 566 lives, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).
"Provisional data in 2014 shows that natural disasters still pose a concrete threat to Indonesia," BNPB Head for Data Information Center and Public Relations Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said here on Wednesday (31/12).
He pointed out that 2.66 million people had to evacuate and suffer hardships due to natural disasters in 2014. Over 51 thousand houses and hundreds of other building structures were also destroyed as a result of these disasters.
"Losses suffered reach trillions of rupiah as a result of forest and land fires reaching Rp20 trillion, Jakarta floods Rp5 trillion, floods in Java's northern coastal areas Rp6 trillion, flash floods in North Sulawesi Rp1.4 trillion, and landslides in Central Java's 16 districts Rp2.1 trillion, among others," Sutopo recollected.
The government, through the BNPB and several ministries/government agencies, is increasing coordination to anticipate flooding and landslides in the country in 2015.
"The BNPB and its regional branch offices (BPBD) have held a coordination meeting in anticipation of flooding and landslides. It has also made a national contingency plan in the face of floods and landslides in 2015," Sutopo remarked in Jakarta on Tuesday.
He noted that floods were forecast to occur in the peak of the monsoon season between January and February 2015.
The effects of flooding, landslides, and whirlwinds will be felt until April 2015.
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