Extreme weather, including heavy rain and strong winds, hit Bali on Sunday, 9th of February, causing dozens of trees to fall, damaging homes, and disrupting the electricity network.
According to preliminary data from Denpasar City’s Regional Disaster Management Agency (Badan Penanggulangan Bencana Daerah or BPBD), at least 18 trees and several branches fell across multiple locations. Three houses sustained roof damage due to falling trees. BPBD officers, along with the Department of Environment and Sanitation (Dinas Lingkungan Hidup dan Kebersihan or DLHK) and village and sub-district officials, are currently handling the situation.
“In accordance with BMKG’s [Badan Meteorologi, Klimatologi, dan Geofisika or Indonesian Agency for Meteorological, Climatological, and Geophysics] prediction, the beginning of the year, indeed, [entails] extreme weather. We can say that strong winds have caused several trees to fall [which is] currently being handled,” said the Head of Denpasar City’s BPBD, Ida Bagus Joni Ariwibawa, as quoted from the press on Monday.
Ariwibawa also urged the public to take BMKG’s warnings seriously, as an early warning for extreme weather in Bali had already been issued.
“Let us obey the BMKG’s appeal together, accompanied by an attitude of alertness and caution. Also, as an anticipatory step, we have assigned BPBD and DLHK to continue to monitor and prune shade trees so that they would not pose danger during extreme weather,” he added.
Meanwhile, the General Manager of PT PLN (Persero) Bali Distribution Unit (UID), Eric Rossi Priyo Nugroho, stated that a designated team had been deployed to address power outages caused by damage to electric poles and networks due to fallen trees.
“Extreme and unpredictable weather conditions, in which rain has been accompanied by strong winds, have caused several trees in several places [in Bali] to collapse and hit electricity poles, resulting in the interruption of electricity supply in the location as well as power outages,” Nugroho explained.
BMKG also reported that the maximum wind speed recorded in Bali on the 7th of February was 19 knots. However, the following day, the speed dramatically increased to 29 knots, approximately 54 kilometres per hour.
“Moreover, until this afternoon [Sunday, 9th of February], the wind speed reached 38 knots or 70 kilometres per hour. This condition has entered the category of strong winds based on BMKG criteria, namely winds with speeds above 25 knots or 45 kilometres per hour,” Putu Agus Dedy Permana, the Weather Forecaster of BMKG Office Region III Denpasar, Bali, told the press on Sunday.
Permana also added, “Based on this condition model, it is estimated that [this strong wind] will last until the 12th of February. We will continue to monitor its development.”