"Gau Mabaji" Elderly Center for Flood and Landslide Disaster Response in Adonara

ADONARA (April 8, 2021) - The Indonesian Ministry of Social Affairs through the "Gau Mabaji" Elderly Center in Gowa sent a Case Response team to provide protection for elderly victims of floods and landslides on Adoenara Island, East Flores Regency, Nusa Tenggara Timur Province.

Floods occurred due to high-intensity rains in the Bukit Seburi highland area on Adoenara Island, this rainfall resulted in floods that mixed with the soil, so that as a result a number of points were swept away by the floods, residents' houses collapsed and were buried in landslides, and several other facilities were dragged away by the flow. flood water.

Landslides occurred at 3 points, namely in Ile Boleng District, East Adonara, and Wotan Ulumando District. In Ile Boleng District, Nelelamadike Village, landslides caused 57 people to die, 11 of whom were elderly. In East Adonara sub-district, Waiwerang Village, there were 9 victims who died and 2 of them were elderly, while in Wotan Ulumando Sub-District, Oyang Barang Village, there were 3 victims who died.

Anticipating the impact caused by the flood disaster on the elderly, the "Gau Mabaji" Elderly Center immediately sent a case response team to go directly to collect data and provide assistance to the elderly affected by the disaster.

Rosniati, the Center Social Worker said that the results of the data collection carried out by the team, there were 22 elderly people in Nelelamadike Village and 25 elderly people in Weiwerang Village who were affected by the disaster.

"We collected data in two villages affected by the disaster and got a total of 47 elderly people who were affected by the disaster. This data will later become our basis for providing follow-up interventions through programs within the Balai," said Ros.

Head of the Social Rehabilitation Division of the East Flores Social Service, Rachmasiah Sahib said that handling vulnerable groups needs to be prioritize disasters, including the elderly, pregnant women, and toddlers.

"The evacuation process went smoothly. Teams from Tagana, police, military, and PMI worked together to simultaneously carry out the evacuation process," said Ram, as he is usually called.

"We prioritize pregnant women, the elderly, and toddlers to be evacuated and given assistance first," he added.

Juliana Jari Palang (67), an elderly flood victim, expressed her gratitude for the government's attention and hoped that additional handling assistance could be realized soon.

"The flood occurred at around 2 a.m. and at that time it was raining very heavily from last night. I was awake and wanted to go to the bathroom, but there was rumbling from the top of the hill so my father and I ran out to save ourselves," said Basri.

The results of the data obtained will be carried out by case conferences for further intervention through the Social Rehabilitation Assistance (ATENSI) program for elderly victims of floods and landslides on Adoenara Island, East Flores Regency, Nusa Tenggara Timur Province.