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Extreme weather warning as 'mudik' season kicks off
Potential bad weather may prove hazardous to people making the mudik journey with private vehicles, which new data suggest will increase this year in the absence of transportation restrictions.
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A traffic jam at a toll booth as people return to their hometowns to celebrate Idul Fitri in Karawang regency, West Java, is seen in this file photo. (Reuters/Yuddy Cahya Budiman)
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orecasters are expecting extreme weather to occur in a handful of regions this year ahead of the Idul Fitri holiday, just as the nation gears up for its biggest mudik (exodus) season since the start of the pandemic.
This year, the annual tradition is particularly special for many Indonesians, as it is the first time in three years that the mass movement of people is not being strictly regulated on account of COVID-19 transmission.
But potential bad weather may still prove hazardous to those making the homebound journey overland with private vehicles, which new data suggest will increase this year in the absence of transportation restrictions.
The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has issued extreme weather warnings for the few days before Islam’s biggest holiday, with agency head Dwikorita Karnawati flagging heavy rainfall from April 19-21, during what is expected to be the peak of mudik traffic flows.
“[We] need to be on the lookout for areas with the potential for heavy rains, such as Aceh, Palembang [in South Sumatra], West Java, East Kalimantan, North Sulawesi and Papua,” she told lawmakers at a hearing in Jakarta this week, kompas.com reported.
Read also: More people expected to 'mudik' this year
These same regions are also expected to experience heavy precipitation between April 22 and 28, while a number of other regions may also experience moderate rainfall.
