The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) issued a warning on Thursday about potential tidal flooding, especially if “followed by heavy rainfall”, that could happen from Jan. 19 until Jan. 22 when a supermoon is expected to occur.

According to the BMKG, a supermoon is a phenomenon where the full moon is bigger than usual as its position is at its closest point to the Earth during its orbit, which could cause high tides all around Indonesia.

The supermoon, which will take place in Jakarta on Jan. 21 at 12:12 a.m., will last a little over three hours and is one out of the 13 possible supermoon occurrences each year, according to NASA.

The upcoming cosmic event will also be aligned for a total lunar eclipse, making it glow a reddish-orange hue known as a super blood moon. However, Asia, Australia and New Zealand will reportedly miss out on
the eclipse.

“We urge people [living in coastal areas] to stay calm and not panic. Don’t get influenced by misinformation or exaggerated news that equates the high tides and floods with a tsunami,” the agency wrote on their official Instagram account @infoBMKG on Friday.

The agency added the high tides could potentially disrupt people’s activities in coastal areas, especially fish farmers, salt farmers and cargo workers.

On the other hand, as of Sunday, residents had not been advised to leave the area but the agency has said it would “continue to give accurate information” on the matter.

Furthermore, Jakarta Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) head Jupan Royter said the city administration had been coordinating with its working units to anticipate any flooding.

“The BPBD has given the necessary information about the [possible] flooding. All related working units, including district and subdistrict heads, are to prepare themselves for flooding,” Jupan said.

He added that the number of people who could be impacted was “hard to predict” as tidal flooding would hit residential areas on the coastline differently.

Idris, 32, a resident from Kampung Nelayan in Kamal Muara, North Jakarta, said residents had experienced flooding every year especially during full moons.

“Sometimes the water can be a little over knee-high level [...] A dike is being constructed to prevent this,” Idris said.

Sarkim, 60, a fisherman who has fished in the area for 30 years, said people usually relocated themselves to nearby facilities during tidal floods.

“People run to Kamal Stadium or the mosques nearby [...] and stay there for up to five days,”
Sarkim said.

He added that it would be “impossible to have a tsunami” in the area as the seawater at Kamal Muara was “too shallow”.

Last year, North Jakarta’s coastal areas were inundated in up to 15 centimeters of water by supermoon-caused tidal floods, prompting residents and local authorities to build a dike and install sandbags near the shore in a bid to prevent flooding.

North Jakarta Mayor Husein Murad has also assembled a group of officers to relocate nearby residents if necessary.

In Kampung Nelayan, fisherman Sarkim has put his hope in the new dike to mitigate future tidal floods.

“I just hope that the dike minimizes the flooding although it probably won’t solve it. My house has been flooded several times and residents nearby are usually at a disadvantage as well,” Sarkim said.

Apart from North Jakarta, the supermoon will also cause higher tides on the coastlines of East Java, Bali and four other regions in Indonesia.

In January last year, thousands of astronomy aficionados gathered at Kota Tua in West Jakarta to celebrate a historic supermoon that occurs every 15 years called a super blood blue moon where a supermoon, a blue moon (a second full moon in the same month) and a blood moon (a lunar eclipse that has a dark reddish color) take place simultaneously. (mai)

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