Lampung's Regional Disaster Agency bolsters readiness against natural disasters

Bandarlampung, Lampung (ANTARA) - Lampung's Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) has amped up readiness against likely disasters due to an increase in rainfall at the start of the year.

"We have bolstered coordination with volunteer forums and districts as well as cities' BPBD to raise readiness against disasters at the start of 2022," Lampung's BPBD Head, Rudy Syawal Sugiarto, told ANTARA here on Tuesday.

The increase in rainfall due to La Nina has been ongoing since October last year until February next month, he highlighted.

Hence, the agency is always on standby, as the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency (BMKG) routinely provides information on the weather conditions, he remarked.

Lampung's BPBD routinely coordinates with the districts and cities' BPBD as well as volunteer forums in preparing logistics and equipment required to support disaster mitigation efforts.

"We have readied equipment, the soup kitchen vehicle, and logistics, such as basic needs, cleaning tool, and health protocol supporting device," Sugiarto elaborated.

The BMKG urged Lampung's residents to bolster their readiness, as the rainy season is estimated to peak at the start of 2022.

In addition, the agency has forecast heavy rains on January 11-12, 2022, in several regions in Lampung.

These regions are Tulang Bawang, West Tulang Bawang, North Lampung, Waykanan, and Central Lampung.

Earlier, BMKG's Head Dwikorita Karnawati, in a statement on Monday evening, noted that several regions were estimated to receive monthly rainfall above the normal rate.

Above normal rains are projected in January in regions comprising Central to North Sumatra, East and North Kalimantan, West Java, half of Sulawesi, East Nusa Tenggara, Maluku, and Papua.

This weather forecast is also for half of Sumatra and Java, East Kalimantan, North Maluku, and Papua for the month of February.