Indonesia Disasters: Floods, Landslides & Fires Disrupt Post-Holiday Travel

Heavy rainfall and strong winds disrupted the close of the Idul Fitri holiday across Indonesia, triggering floods and landslides in several regions, authorities reported Sunday.

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) stated that West Java, East Java, and Maluku provinces were among the areas affected by the extreme weather over the weekend, coinciding with the end of the Islamic holiday period. In West Java’s Cianjur region, at least 18 homes were damaged across five villages due to heavy rain and strong winds. Similar damage was reported in Grobogan, Central Java, with five homes impacted.

Flooding also occurred in Depok, West Java, where nearly 700 households were forced to evacuate. East Java’s Mojokerto and West Seram in Maluku also experienced flooding, affecting over a hundred households in each location. BNPB spokesperson Abdul Muhari indicated that water levels were beginning to recede in these areas, according to Antara news agency.

In East Jakarta, 46 neighborhood units were inundated Sunday following heavy rains that caused rivers to overflow, prompting resident evacuations, according to the Jakarta Disaster Mitigation Agency.

Beyond the flooding, forest fires in Riau province continued to burn, disrupting travel during the mudik (exodus) season by reducing visibility. The BNPB reported that the affected area had reached 2.4 thousand hectares as of Sunday.

Tens of thousands of flood survivors remain in temporary shelters two months after initial flooding in Sumatra, according to Asia News Network reporting. Reconstruction efforts are underway in Sumatra as the Idul Fitri holiday concludes, but the scale of displacement remains significant.

Meanwhile, Jakarta is bracing for further floods and landslides as the holiday season continues, according to The Jakarta Post.