Indonesia: Drought hits 11 districts in East Nusa Tenggara

Antara 26 Sep 18;

Kupang, E Nusa Tenggara, (ANTARA News) - A total of 11 districts in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) have been hit by severe dry season, a local official stated.

No rainfall was received since long in NTT's 21 districts, of which 11 districts were experiencing severe dry season, Apolinaris Geru, head of the Kupang meteorology, climatology, and geophysics station, stated here, Wednesday.

The 11 affected districts include East Manggarai, Nagekeo, Ende, Lembata, East Sumba, Rote Ndao, Kupang, North Timor Tengah, Malaka, and Belu.

Those districts had received no rains for over 60 days, he remarked.

September is usually the transitional period during which rains begin to fall across the country. However, until Sept 26 this year, several regions remain dry, as rains have not been received for months.

Currently, drought has hit some regions in Indonesia, especially the islands of Java and Nusa Tenggara. The drought hit 4,053 villages in 888 sub-districts located in 111 districts and cities in 11 provinces.

Some 4.87 million people in the country were affected by this year's drought, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency stated recently.

Reporting by Bernadus Tokan
Editing by Fardag Assegaf
Editor: Sri Haryati