Extreme Weather on Morotai Island Claims One Life, BNPB Reports

The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) has received a report regarding an extreme weather event in the Pulau Morotai Regency, North Maluku, which resulted in the death of a resident who was struck by lightning. Abdul Muhari, Head of the BNPB’s Disaster Data, Information and Communication Centre, stated in Jakarta on Saturday that according to a chronological report from the local Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), the victim was a local fisherman. Abdul explained that shortly after the incident occurred, emergency personnel at the site level, together with residents, immediately carried out an evacuation and handed the victim’s body over to the family for burial. As a form of support and post-disaster impact management, the Pulau Morotai Regency Government has also prepared the distribution of bereavement compensation to the family of the deceased. Based on a rapid assessment and visual monitoring around the incident location, the BPBD confirmed there were no reports of infrastructure damage or material losses in residential areas due to the severe weather. Nevertheless, Abdul said the extreme weather phenomenon triggering lightning and strong winds in the North Maluku archipelago still requires special attention, particularly for communities working in the maritime sector. To this end, the BNPB urges local governments, fishermen, and communities in the coastal areas of Morotai Island to regularly monitor weather forecasts from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) and to postpone seafaring activities if convective or cumulonimbus clouds begin to thicken, for the sake of safety.