Nurfika Osman The Jakarta Globe 17 Sep 09;
Swells up to five meters high will likely strike Indonesia’s waters until Tuesday next week, the head of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics agency said on Thursday.
Sri Woro, the head of the agency, also known as the BMKG, suggested that Idul Fitri travelers who will take sea routes to their hometowns may want to reconsider their itineraries.
“People who will go to their hometowns by sea should be very careful,” she said. “We do not recommend traveling by sea as the weather will be bad and dangerous until next week.”
Millions of people living in big cities across the archipelago are now traveling to their hometowns to celebrate Idul Fitri, which marks the end of the Muslim fasting month. This year, Idul Fitri falls on Sept. 21-22.
Sri Woro said heavy swells would hit waters off western Aceh, the Gaspar Strait between Bangka and Belitung, Riau, Pontianak, the Natuna islands off West Kalimantan and northern Papua.
She added the swells could be higher than five meters in some areas because dark rain clouds and strong winds are likely to occur in the next few days.
“There is a great chance of cumulonimbus clouds and strong winds that will heighten the waves,” she said, adding that heavy rainfall near the coast would worsen the conditions.
Sri Woro said swells up to three meters high would hit the Sunda Strait between Sumatra and Java, waters off East Java, Ambon, West Nusa Tenggara, and the Arafuru Sea off Papua.
Four-meter waves, she said, could possibly be seen in the southern part of the Indian Ocean up to Central Java and Merauke in Papua.
“We are collaborating with all harbor masters and transportation agencies to warn people that the sea is dangerous,” she said, adding that waves only two meters high were strong enough to flip a tugboat.
She said the BMKG already had 19 radar stations in big cities across the country to predict the weather.
“We now have 19 radar stations, with eight of them installed this year,” she said, adding that each radar could detect weather within 150 kilometers.
Cities that have stations include Jakarta, Surabaya in East Java, Semarang in Central Java, Padang in West Sumatra, Kupang in East Nusa Tenggara and Manado in North Sulawesi.
She said the country should have at least 40 radar stations scattered to improve the detection of bad weather and avoid weather-related accidents and disasters.
“We hope we can reach our goal of having 40 stations in 2011,” she said.
“The lack of funds is the biggest problem,” she added.
Separately, Widada Sulistya, the director of the Center of Public Meteorology, said most people traveling to their hometowns for the Idul Fitri holiday would generally enjoy fine weather next week.
“There is only a small chance of rain, so people should not be worried about the coming week,” Widada said, referring only to areas those people traveling in Java and South Sumatra.
