Beware of Heavy Rain During the Month of Ramadan

JAKARTA, KOMPAS - Several regions in Indonesia are expected to continue experiencing rain with light to heavy intensity over the next week. Communities in disaster-prone areas are advised to anticipate the impacts of heavy rain during the holy month of Ramadan.

Deputy for Meteorology at the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), Guswanto, stated that over the past week, BMKG recorded occurrences of extremely heavy rainfall in several regions. The rainfall intensity reached more than 100 millimeters per day (mm/day).

The extremely heavy rainfall occurred in the City of Cirebon, West Java (123 mm/day); several areas in Riau (116 mm/day); Bogor Regency, West Java (104 mm/day); Mimika Regency, Central Papua (100 mm/day); Padang Pariaman Regency, West Sumatra (100 mm/day); and Manggarai Regency, East Nusa Tenggara (100 mm/day).

"This condition still has the potential to occur in several regions, particularly in the western part of Indonesia and the Papua Islands, triggered by various atmospheric disturbances," said Guswanto on Monday (3/3/2025).

Guswanto explained that atmospheric waves such as Equatorial Rossby, Low Frequency, and Kelvin are predicted to remain active in the next week.

The presence of cyclonic circulation and strong local instability has the potential to enhance the development of rain clouds, leading to the likelihood of persistent high-intensity rainfall. This is expected to cause several regions to continue experiencing heavy to very heavy rainfall.

Residents in vulnerable areas are urged to evacuate immediately if water levels rise and to prepare an emergency preparedness bag containing important documents, medications, and other emergency necessities.

Areas that are predicted to still experience heavy rain include Aceh, North Sumatra, West Sumatra, Jambi, South Sumatra, Bengkulu, West Java, Central Kalimantan, North Kalimantan, North Sulawesi, Gorontalo, South Sulawesi, North Maluku, Papua, Papua Mountains, and South Papua.

Guswanto emphasized that during the current month of Ramadan, Indonesia is entering the transitional season (March, April and May). Therefore, BMKG appealed to residents to remain vigilant against the potential for extreme weather that can cause potential hydrometeorological disasters.

BMKG also appealed to the public to be more aware of the environment and potential disasters in the environment where they live so that they can reduce the impacts caused by hydrometeorological disasters that can occur at any time.

"BMKG has always coordinated pentahelically with the government, community, academics, mass media and the business world regarding hydrometeorological disasters. Coordination is also carried out through weather information updates, potential for extreme weather and hydrometeorological disasters in disaster areas," said Guswanto.

Awareness of the potential for hydrometeorological disasters was also conveyed by the Head of the Data, Information, and Disaster Communication Center of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), Abdul Muhari. BNPB noted that several regions are now facing hydrometeorological disasters due to high rainfall.

"BNPB urges the public to remain vigilant against the potential for further flooding and extreme weather. Residents in vulnerable areas are asked to evacuate immediately if the water level increases and prepare disaster preparedness bags containing important documents, medicines, and other emergency needs," he said.