Tropical storm 3B to drift away
Tropical storm 3B to drift away
JAKARTA (JP): Sumatra may get a reprieve from the recent
storms and torrential rains that have caused landslides and
flooding in many parts of the island as weathermen predict
improving conditions in coming weeks.
Head of the Meteorology and Geophysical Agency (BMG) Sri
Diharto said on Tuesday that after a few days the rain should die
down, "but residents in regions of eastern Indonesia, especially
in Maluku, have to watch out because an unnamed tropical storm is
approaching from the southern Philippines and could cause heavy
weather there".
Sri told The Jakarta Post that heavy rains will continue for
the next few days in Sumatra as a result of tropical storm 3B.
The torrential rains falling for days in Aceh, North Sumatra
and West Sumatra are a result of a tropical storm called "3B"
which formed in the western part of Aceh, he explained.
"From Nov. 18 to Nov. 19 the depression built into a tropical
storm, causing heavy rains from Nov. 20 to Nov. 21, peaking on
Nov. 23 when over 200 millimeters fell causing the landslides,"
Sri said.
But based on BMG observations, it is likely the 3B storm will
drift away and hopefully cause the rain to subside.
"In southern parts of Java, the rain won't be as heavy as in
parts of Sumatra.
"People should stay alert since from the end of December to
January next year the Asian monsoon will be active causing heavy
rains," Sri said, adding that if hard rains occur in areas with
widespread environmental damage, it could lead to disasters such
as floods and landslides.
Sri Diharto explained that the extreme climate changes have
been caused, to some extent, by global warming.
In Indonesia, the impact of global climate change can be seen
through the rise of sea level along the northern coast of Java,
he said.
"In Semarang and Surabaya, every time a high tide occurs,
there is flooding. Such flooding never took place before. Similar
effects can be seen in irregular rain fall and the El Nino
weather phenomenon," he said.
Global climate changes are caused by, among other things,
greenhouse emissions produced from industrialization and
pollution from automobiles, he said.(edt)