Dionysius Siringoringo

It seems every story about Indonesia recently involves a disaster. With alarming speed, we have replaced such countries as the Philippines, Nepal and Bangladesh as the most disaster-prone nation in the world. Indonesia, however, is not alone in facing natural disasters. Globally, the number of environmental calamities is rising, mostly owing to an increase in floods.

For the period of 1994-2003, the International Council for Science found floods were the most common natural hazard, making up 33 percent of disasters. Storms were next at 23 percent, epidemics at 15.2 percent, droughts at 15 percent and earthquakes at 7 percent. The remaining disasters included tsunamis, landslides and volcanic eruptions. Hazards related to extreme weather conditions occurred most frequently and often affected the largest areas.

In disaster science, the paradigm is now shifting from knowing that rivers flood to understanding how a flood can cause so much damage. Human beings, not nature, are the cause of disaster losses. It is unrealistic to think that we can engineer the earth to stop disasters, but it is possible to adjust human behavior to reduce their risk.

Indonesia has long recognized the importance of having a disaster management organization….read complete article