VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

While the Indonesian people are struggling to fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, which shows no signs of shaking off, some natural disasters also continue to haunt them.

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) in its release on Monday (19/7) issued reports of various natural disasters that occurred across Indonesia throughout the year. As of July 19 at 15.00 WIB, there have been 1.583 natural disasters throughout Indonesia. The disasters consisted of 21 earthquakes, 121 forest and land fires, 3 cases of drought, 667 floods, 318 landslides, 432 strong wind and abrasion.

A natural phenomenon is called a disaster if the event has resulted in human casualties, environmental damage, property losses, and psychological impacts. Natural disasters that occurred from January until July 2021, broguht about 499 casualties, 69 missing, more than 12 thousand injured and more than 5.5 million people suffering or displaced.

The number is not small considering the period of only 6 months. The Indonesian government has mapped, mitigated and warned residents of potential disasters to anticipate. But at the same time, they are also facing various difficulties due to the prolonged Covid-19 pandemic. Thereby, it is natural that residents may not monitor, for example, the weather forecast on the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency website, or the study of risk areas issued by The National Disaster Mitigation Agency -BNPB.

In this regard, the regional governments play a major role in monitoring the area related to potential disasters. They are obliged to improve the preparedness of their citizens against disasters, while still adhering to the health protocols. They must also be alert and watchful to take steps to mitigate and reduce disaster risk. Thus, residents will feel protected and voluntarily obey the instructions of their regional government, in case a disaster occurs. Hopefully, the Indonesian people can reduce the impact of natural disasters as much as possible, and the Covid-19 pandemic is going to shake off sooner.