Natural disaster disasters Floods and landslides hit a city in Indonesia, to be precise in Sorong City, West Papua Province, since Monday (22/8/2022). The incident occurred after high-intensity rains that flushed the area since 22.30 local time.

Floods and landslides occurred in Pal Putih Village and Tanjung Kasuari Village, in West Sorong District, Kladufu Village in East Sorong District, Klasabi Village in Sorong Manoi District, Sawagumu Village and Matalamagi Village in North Sorong District and Malamso Village in Malaimsimsa District.

Head of the Sorong City Government Regional Disaster Management Agency, Herlin Sasabone revealed that according to data from the Sorong City Government Natural Disaster Management Team, floods and landslides occurred when heavy rains hit the Sorong city area, on Monday (22/8/2022) at around 22 pm. 30 local time until Tuesday (23/8/2022) early morning local time. Floods that submerged most of the Sorong City area with an air height of about 120 centimeters. Where there are 9 locations that are very badly affected by flooding.

“The floods and landslides that occurred on Monday 22 August 2022 at 22.00 local time until Tuesday 23 August 2022 caused flooding with a height of 120 centimeters submerging most of the city of Sorong. Where there are nine locations that were severely affected by the flood disaster. In addition to flash floods, heavy rains that hit the area also caused landslides which resulted in fatalities, in which three people died. One person is female and two are male. The victims included a mother and her child as well as an adult where the landslides occurred in two different locations in the city of Sorong. Meanwhile, from the natural disasters of landslides and floods that hit the city of Sorong, there were 10 people who were injured, with details of 6 people being seriously injured and 4 people having minor injuries," said Herlin Sasabone in Sorong City, West Papua, Wednesday. (24/8/2022).



Regarding flash floods and landslides in the area, according to Herlin, the local government has prepared a number of ready-to-eat food aids and emergency tents which have temporarily begun to be distributed to residents in the area affected by flash floods and landslides.

"We from the Regional Disaster Management Agency are currently preparing assistance for residents affected by floods and landslides, in the form of food stocks. Today we will distribute it to refugee locations. The ready-to-eat food stock comes from the assistance of the Ministry of Social Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, which has arrived in Sorong City since Wednesday, August 24, 2022 this morning. These ready-to-eat food items will be distributed from the Disaster Management Command Post which has been established in the Sorong Mayor's office yard, to all population evacuation sites in nine locations in Sorong City. There is also assistance from the Central National Disaster Management Agency in the form of emergency tents, field beds, family kits, blankets, towels, bath soap and cleaning tools for residents affected by floods and landslides. In total, all aid in the form of ready-to-eat food and equipment such as tents and others as many as 10 containers have been distributed to residents who have experienced this natural disaster," explained Herlin Sasabone.

The incident also affected 925 family heads or 2,500 people with floods with water levels varying between 30 to 129 centimeters. It was recorded that 2,000 people fled to several refugee camps and other relatives. A total of 1,025 units were submerged in water and three of them were heavily damaged and three others were moderately damaged.

The Regional Disaster Management Agency, the City of Sorong and the joint team are still carrying out disaster management, evacuating victims, establishing command posts at the Sorong Mayor's office, establishing public kitchens at five points, distributing food aid, providing treatment for refugees and cleaning up leftover materials. closed roads and normalized watersheds in East Sorong District

The Indonesian Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) issued an early warning warning of the potential for rain with moderate to heavy intensity which can be accompanied by lightning and lightning for the Soeong City area on Thursday (25/8/2022) and Friday (26/8/2022).

Seeing this potential, the regional disaster management team appealed to all regional policy makers to take steps to increase prevention and vigilance, with the aim of protecting people living in locations prone to landslides and floods.
There are several steps that can be taken, namely monitoring the condition of the drainage on the slopes around the house so that they are not clogged causing landslides, planting trees with strong roots on the slopes to hold the soil from sliding, seeking weather-related information from the authorities and for the people who are affected. stay near the river to monitor river discharge and carry out self-evacuation when heavy rain lasts for more than an hour.