"The floods in January 2014 were lighter than in January 2013. We hope it is much lighter in January 2015, but people must be ready to face the worst," the Deputy of BNPBs Emergency Management, Tri Budiarto, said here on Tuesday.
The massive floods that inundated Jakarta in 2007 are considered the worst flooding disaster the city has ever faced. Keeping this in mind and anticipating the worst, the BNPB prepared mitigation measures to face the floods in the last rainy season.
"Given the worst-case scenario (we faced in 2007), we can handle the effects of floods in the light and medium scales, as well as the large ones," Budiarto affirmed.
From the BNPBs Rp75 billion budget to tackle floods and landslides in the country, Rp12 billion is allocated for Jakarta alone as the city is hit by floods every year.
Furthermore, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) predicted that the peak rainy season is in December 2014 and will gradually increase till January 2015.
"Rainwater does not get absorbed well in Jakarta because the lands are covered with buildings. Hence, waters only flow into the sea through the rivers," Budiarto explained.
So far, the BNPB recorded floods in the provinces of Aceh, North Sumatera, West Sumatera, and Riau.
(Reporting by Anom Prihantoro/Uu.INE/KR-BSR/A014)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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