How To Anticipate Flood During Rainy Seasons
As the end of the year approaches, Jakarta began to experience frequent and sudden rain. Sometimes, the rainfall is so high that some areas have the potential to experience flooding. Smartcitizens, especially those who live in flood-prone areas, you obviously don't want to face flooding without any preparation, right? So, let’s look at some things you can do to be prepared.
Flood Anticipation Steps
During the rainy season, it's a good idea to always anticipate the arrival of floods. These are some thingsyou need to prepare, even before the flooding occurs.
Find out which areas in Jakarta are flood-prone. Is your house one of them? If so, then you need to take the next precaution as soon as possible. But if not, you still need to be careful and anticipate, given the location of rainfall that is not always predictable.
Imagine if your house was flooded and you were so distraught that you didn't have time to rescue important documents? Of course it's a scenario that you want to avoid. Therefore, keep all your valuable documents in soft-copy form. That way, it will be easier for you to secure your valuable documents when you experience flooding.
Every family member is advised to know and save emergency telephone numbers on their phone. So that anyone can ask for help when the flood reaches your house.
Electricity is one of the many things you need to pay attention to during a flood. Submerged electricity can cause a short circuit. Even after it receded, it would still be dangerous. Therefore, you must check the power source in your home so that if there is a potential for flooding, you can take action by unplugging electrical equipment and moving items, including electronics, to a high, dry, and safe place.
Even though it is not certain yet whether flooding will occur in your house or not, you still need to find out the evacuation route and the nearest evacuation location when the worst case happens. By finding out this information, you can be one step ahead in anticipating floods. Don't forget, only official sources like the government’s or the related authorities’ can be trusted.
When dealing with floods, It is important to make an evacuation plan with the family. Choose a meeting point for you and your family in case you are separated during a flood.
It is important for each family member to prepare a disaster preparedness bag. The disaster preparedness bag contains essential items that are important to be safe and carried when evacuating. The contents of this bag can be adjusted based on individual needs, but usually include clothes for 3 days, praying kit, personal medicines and first aid kits, vital documents and records wrapped in plastic, gloves/blankets, family photos, mineral water, power bank and spare battery, whistle, mask & hand sanitizer, flashlight, plastic bag, cash, and durable snacks.
Floods Related Information Platforms and Services
Anticipation of floods can not run optimally if only done by the community. Government efforts are also needed. The Jakarta Provincial Government, the Jakarta Regional Disaster Management Agency, and a number of officials have prepared several platforms that can provide you with assistance in the form of information and services related to flooding.
Jakarta Siaga 112 Service is an integrated emergency service system. If you experience floods, you can call 112 to get help in 30 seconds. Not only fast response, by using this service, you don't need to remember long phone numbers, just call 112 via cellphone with or without a SIM card or through a landline. This service operates 24 hours and 7 days a week.
This websiteprovides various information related to floods that can help you to always be up-to-date with mitigation and handling of Jakarta floods. There are also early warnings or weather forecasts, Jakarta flood monitoring dashboards that contain observation data, modeling and predictions of Jakarta floods, flood maps, media related to Jakarta floods, questions and answers about floods, and emergency contacts.
The JAKI application also offers various services related to flooding through its several features. Through the JakPantau feature, you can monitor the water level of rivers in Jakarta and the areas affected by flooding. You can also see the operational status of hundreds of water pumps that have been alerted by the Jakarta Water Resources Service to deal with flooding. Through the JakWarta feature, you will also be sent a Jakarta weather prediction and early warning information. Don't forget to turn on notifications so you don't miss any information. Furthermore, if during the rainy season you find a puddle of water that has the potential to flood, you can also report it through JAKI. By reporting to JAKI, you have helped prevent potential flooding in a certain area.
Those are the recommendations of the things you need to do during the rainy season as a form of preparedness for Jakarta floods. For a complete guide to dealing with floods, you can read the bookof ‘Panduan Kesiapsiagaan Menghadapi Banjir Bagi Masyarakat’ (Guide to Preparedness for Floods for the Community). Once again, if you find a problem that can cause floods, don't hesitate to report it through JAKI. You can download the JAKI application on Google Play Storeor Apple App Store. Hopefully, this article can be a reliable source of information for you to anticipate floods. Stay safe, Smartcitizen!
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