Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) Records 52 Natural Disasters in Mid-August 2023, with Forest and Land Fires Being the Most Frequent

The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) recorded 52 disaster events in Indonesia during the period of August 14-20, 2023.

Forest and land fires (karhutla) dominated disasters in Indonesia over the past week, with a total of 32 incidents. This accounts for 62% of the total national disaster events during that period.

“If we look at the trend, BNPB can say that we are entering the peak of the dry season,” said Head of the BNPB's Data, Information, and Disaster Communication Center, Abdul Muhari, in an online press conference on Tuesday (22/8/2023).

Abdul Muhari also explained that the peak of the dry season resulted in a higher number of hotspots in the first two weeks of August 2023 compared to the first two weeks of June and July.

In the period of August 1-14, 2023, BNPB recorded 70,144 hotspots in Indonesia. Meanwhile, there were 10,470 hotspots in the period of June 1-14, 2023, and 6,270 in the period of July 1-14, 2023.

Kalimantan had the highest number of hotspots nationally, reaching 40,141 in the first two weeks of August 2023.

"This means it's incredibly hot," added Abdul.

The next most frequent disaster was flooding, with 7 reported incidents.

"The northern part of the equator or western Indonesia still experiences relatively high-intensity rain. This has caused flash floods on the south coast of West Sumatra and Southeast Aceh," explained Abdul.

This was followed by 7 reported incidents of strong winds and 6 incidents of drought.

BNPB also stated that drought was most prevalent on Java Island, with 50-70% of the region affected.