REGIONAL SUMMARY:
For the eighteenth-week of 2024, the ASEAN region experienced 47 disasters, including floods, landslides, storms, and wind-related disasters. Indonesia, Thailand, and Viet Nam were reportedly affected by these disasters. According to the Badan Nasional Penanggulangan Bencana (BNPB) of Indonesia, floods and landslides occurred in Central Sulawesi, South Sulawesi, Central Kalimantan, North Sulawesi, Banten, East Kalimantan, Southeast Sulawesi, Gorontalo, Central Java, North Maluku, West Sumatra, and Riau. Meanwhile, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) in Thailand reported storms and wind-related incidents across several provinces in the Northern, Northeastern, Central, and Southern Regions. Lastly, the Viet Nam Disaster and the Dyke Management Authority (VDDMA) documented storms and winds in Lao Cai, Yen Bai, Ha Giang, Cao Bang, Bac Kan, Tuyen Quang, Phu Tho, Thai Nguyen and Quang Ninh provinces.
HIGHLIGHT:
In Week 18, the medium to high 7-day average rainfall resulted to flooding and landslides in Indonesia as reported by the BNPB. These reported disasters accounted for 64.41% of all disaster-affected persons in the region for this reporting period. BNPB reported flood and landslide impacts that caused 13 deaths, 2 injuries, 551 displacements, and affected a total of 14.8K families (56.5K persons). Most of these disasters were reported in Sulawesi where high average rainfall was also observed. A total of 12.4K houses were damaged, of which 261 were reported to be totally damaged. In addition, the flooding and landslides also damaged 40 schools, 14 health facilities, 5 government offices, 20 worship places, 7k hectares of rice, and 2.7K hectares of other crops as reported by BNPB. Meanwhile, storms and wind-related disasters resulted to 6.7K damaged houses in mainland Southeast Asia as reported by the DDPM in Thailand and the VDDMA in Viet Nam. Storms accompanied by strong winds had blown roofs off of people’s houses and affected about 31.2K individuals in Thailand and Viet Nam. The DDPM also reported 1 death due to fallen tree in Buri Ram, Thailand. Meanwhile, 1 person died due to lighting strike in Viet Nam according to the VDDMA. Authorities had immediately provided emergency response measures and provided assistance to the affected population in Indonesia, Thailand, and Viet Nam.
HYDRO-METEO-CLIMATOLOGICAL:
For the past week, data from the ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) indicates a 7-day average rainfall ranging from medium to high across Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia (Sumatra, Banten, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku, and Papua), Lao PDR, Malaysia (Peninsular, Sabah, and Sarawak), northwest and central Myanmar, southern Philippines (Mindanao), parts of northern, northeastern, central, and south Thailand, and Viet Nam. High average rainfall is also observed over the vicinity of Papua where Tropical Disturbance INVEST 91P is currently being monitored (BMKG, JTWC).
GEOPHYSICAL:
Two (2) significant earthquakes (M>5.0) were recorded by Indonesia’s BMKG, the Jabatan Meteorologi Malaysia (JMM), and the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS). Ruang Volcano (alert level IV), Mount Semeru (alert level III) in Indonesia, and Mayon Volcano (alert level 1), Taal (alert level 1), Kanlaon (alert level 1), and Bulusan (alert level 1) in the Philippines reported recent volcanic activity according to Pusat Vulkanologi dan Mitigasi Bencana Geologi (PVMBG) and PHIVOLCS.
OUTLOOK:
According to the ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC), drier conditions are predicted to persist over much of the northeastern Maritime Continent and ease elsewhere. Wetter conditions are predicted over much of the equatorial region. Warmer than usual temperature is predicted to persist over most of Southeast Asia.There is a small increase in chance of rainfall over parts of the equatorial region, in particular over central Sumatra, southern half of Borneo, parts of Sulawesi and the Maluku Islands. For the regional assessment of extremes, the increase in chance of extreme hot conditions persists for some parts of Southeast Asia, with moderate increase in chance over parts of Myanmar, western Thailand, northern Borneo and the Philippines, with small increase in chance over the western Maritime, rest of Thailand, Lao PDR, Cambodia, and Viet Nam. An El Niño is currently present, showing signs of weakening and predicted to transition to ENSO neutral conditions during April-May 2024. At the seasonal timescale during March to May, El Niño event typically bring warmer conditions to much of the ASEAN region and drier conditions to much of the northern ASEAN region.
Sources:
ASEAN Disaster Monitoring & Response System (DMRS); ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC); Joint Typhoon Warning Centre (JTWC);
Indonesia: BNPB, BMKG, PVMBG;
Malaysia: JMM;
Philippines: PHIVOLCS;
Thailand: DDPM;
Viet Nam: VDDMA;
Various news agencies.
