Natural Disasters in Indonesia

By Sasha Middleton

The country of Indonesia has been experiencing catastrophic flooding on and off since January of this year. The floods initially began in the capital city of Jakarta, when the city was hit with the worst downpour the country has seen within the decade. This downpour unleashed floods and mudslides that knocked out power amongst other necessities. This caused the displacement of about 175,000 and the killing of 60. This rainfall was triggered by wind moving from the northeast of Java island that met with winds blowing from the south that created a massive formation of clouds above the island.

After a moment of calm the country was yet again met with rains that worsened the floods in February. The overnight rains caused the rivers to burst that caused muddy water up to 5 feet to fill up in residential areas. Amongst this thousands were misplaced yet again including those in the presidential palace. These floods paralysed crucial transporting networks within the island, as well as submerging the largest state run hospital damaging equipment as well. Just when it seemed like the chaos had stopped, heavy rains brought flooding to North Luwu district on the island of Sulawesi in July. Three rivers overflowed due to the rainfall which led to about 4,000 residents affected, within this 23 were missing and 16 died.

Although Indonesia yearly suffers from flooding and landslides etc, it continues to get worse due to the deforestation on the islands. The forests are catchment areas that help slow down and absorb water before it reaches heavy populated cities. The latest flooding, mudslides amongst other natural disasters are said to have highlighted the infrastructure problems in Indonesia. The country does not have the proper systems to extract groundwater, and the congestion in major cities has caused the economy 6.5 billion dollars a year.

Another natural disaster struck Indonesia when Mount Sinabung erupted on August 10, 2020. According to the Jakarta Post, the eruption caused a 5000-metre high column of ash and smoke to shoot into the air, followed by another eruption that produced a 2000-metre high plume of thick ash and grit. Active volcano eruptions are especially harmful in countries like Indonesia and Philippines where large populations are closely clustered around volcanoes. Local authorities have warned that the smoke could cause disruptions to aviation in the area. The ash covered villages within a 20 kilometer (12.4 miles) radius.

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Sources:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2020/02/25/jakarta-floods-2020-indonesia-capital/4865913002/

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/08/gunfire-heard-mali-army-base-warnings-mutiny-200818111723901.html

https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/01/01/not-ordinary-rain-worst-rainfall-in-over-decade-causes-massive-floods-in-jakarta.html

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-volcanic-eruption-in-indonesias-mount-sinabung-6550530/

https://magma.vsi.esdm.go.id/vona/display.php?noticenumber=2020SIN03