Weather in East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia kills 128 people

From November to April of every year is the rains season in Indonesia, where landslides and floods occur frequently in East Nusa Tenggara and West Nusa Tenggara.. these lands witnessed heavy rains at the weekend when the floods swept through many villages, the villagers were asleep resulting in the severe weather killing  128 people and 72 citizens were injured, according to the Indonesian National Disaster Relief Agency on Tuesday (April 6, 2021). Thousands of people were forced to leave their homes in search of shelter, and many people were evacuated in a state of emergency, affecting about 30,000 people.

And Xinhua News Agency reported that the spokesman of the Indonesian National Disaster Relief Agency, Raditiya Gadi, issued a statement stating that the tropical cyclone “Siroya” that crossed east of Nusa Tenggara on the fourth of January will cause floods and many landslides, 11,107 people from 3,102 families in five counties in the province have been affected, and 8,424 of them have been evacuated.

He also said that as search and rescue work continued, the number of victims and property losses were expected to increase.

He said that the rescue teams are made up of search and rescue personnel, military police, Ministry of Health officials and volunteers.  As a result of traffic disruptions in some disaster areas, the National Disaster Relief Administration dispatched helicopters to evacuate the victims and transport medical personnel and supplies.

Also, Indonesian President Joko chaired a cabinet meeting to discuss disaster relief work in East Nusa Tenggara.

Homes, bridges and roads in the county’s East Flores County were flooded with mud.  The area was severely affected, which resulted in blocking traffic and transportation. “Mud and severe weather have caused serious challenges, which impeded the progress of search and rescue teams,” said Gadi, a spokesman for the Indonesian National Agency for Disaster Reduction.

“Hundreds of residents have been evacuated in every area, but there are still many people who remain in their homes, and they need medicine and food,” said Petan, director of the city’s disaster management department.

“The floods started suddenly in the early morning and because of them the neighbors’ homes were buried. At that time, four people were living in the house nearby, three of them fled, and one of them was crushed to death when it was too late to save him,” said a villager.

Environmentalists point out that landslides can often be attributed to deforestation.  According to official Indonesian estimates, nearly half of the country’s population, and areas where nearly 125 million people live, are at risk of landslides.