Indonesia’s Riau ready to evacuate residents from flooding areas after fighting forest fires

Pekanbaru, Indonesia – Drastic weather changes in the past few days have forced Regional Disaster Mitigation Agencies (BPBDs) in Riau, Indonesia, to switch from fire extinguishers to dinghies to evacuate residents trapped by floods.

Earlier in 2026, BPBDs across Riau were fighting forest fires because of a forecast long dry season, but high rainfall in the past few days has swept away most forest and land fires and instead caused floods in dozens of villages and sub-districts in three regencies.

In Kuantan Singingi (Kuansing) regency, the Kuantan River overflowed and has inundated 15 villages in Pangean, Kuantan Hilir Seberang, Kuantan Hilir and Inuman districts since May 15.

Based on Kuansing BPBD’s records, 526 houses are inundated by water to a height of 10cm to 30cm.

Executive director of Kuansing BPBD Yulizar said the worst floods occurred in Inuman, where 263 houses were inundated in the villages of Pulau Busuk, Pulau Sipan, Seberang Pulau Busuk and Pulau Busuk Jaya.

“In addition to houses, several public facilities such as musholla (prayer huts), school public health centres and village offices are also inundated, disrupting activities in several villages,” he said on May 17.

He said the high rainfall was caused by the high rain intensity in the Kuantan River’s upstream area in the neighbouring province of West Sumatra in the past few days.

“Water height is still potentially increasing because rain is still falling and can increase the number of houses impacted by flooding,” he said.

Flood victims are suffering because of a lack of logistics, including a lack of food, amid the paralysis of economic activities.

“The Kuansing BPBD has requested food supplies to the Riau BPBD. I hope the food supplies can be immediately sent so we can distribute them to residents affected by the floods,” Mr Yulizar said.

He said Kuansing BPBD staff and disaster volunteers at the district level were still on standby to monitor the latest conditions.

“They also register the losses... the flood-affected locations,” Mr Yulizar said.

“We call on residents, especially those living along riverbanks, to remain vigilant about the potential of continued floods, especially if rainfall remains high,” he said. “Prioritise safety in conducting daily activities and immediately report in case of emergency.”

A call centre opened by the Kuansing BPBD can be reached on 08117575755.

In Indragiri Hulu regency, floods inundated more than 100 houses and public facilities including the sub-district head office and school in Pematang Reba sub-district, West Rengat district, following incessant rain for almost seven hours on May 15.

Poor drainage could not accommodate water flowing from all directions. At some points, the water was knee-deep, or about 60cm deep.

A resident, Mr Mujiono, said the area was prone to flooding, but this was the worst in five years.

“The condition is deplorable. Pematang Reba sub-district is Indragiri Hulu regency’s administrative seat but there was no special attention from the regency administration to solve the problem,” he said.

He said residents had been asking the regional administration to fix the gutters in the sub-district for quite a long time to allow them to have enough capacity for water from rainfall.

“But it was not heeded,” he said.

Meanwhile, in Dumai city, some 80 homes in Tanjung Penyembal sub-district, Sungai Sembilan district, were inundated because of high rainfall.

Several vulnerable points in Dumai Kota and South Dumai districts have started to become inundated although the floods have not yet reached residential areas.

“The flooding has come and, in several places, water has entered residents’ houses but there is no report of evacuations yet,” Dumai BPBD executive director Wahyu Wicaksono said.

“However, we are on standby if residents need assistance any time. We have prepared evacuation tools such as dinghies, tents and other things,” he added.

Mr Wahyu asked residents to look out for reptiles that may enter houses during the flood.

“The Dumai city administration has launched a single emergency number 112,” he said. “Residents who require emergency assistance, please contact the number. The administration will be there as soon as possible for free.”

Atmospheric conditions

Separately, the Pekanbaru office of the Meteorological, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) reminded all regions in Riau to be alert to possible floods because rain is forecast to fall in the next few days.

Pekanbaru BMKG’s on-duty forecaster Mari Frystine said that Riau was affected by the equatorial Kelvin wave phenomenon that causes increased rainfall in almost all regions.

“The phenomenon directly impacts weather condition changes in various areas in Riau. The equatorial Kelvin wave is an atmosphere disruption when there is air propagation moving from west to east,” she said. “The wave carries large amounts of water and triggers rain-producing convective cloud growth in equatorial areas.”

Ms Mari asked residents to be prepared for possible sudden weather changes.

“Please be aware of rain with medium to high intensity accompanied by lightning and strong winds which will happen in almost all regions in Riau, especially in the morning and afternoon to the evening,” she said.

She said the equatorial Kelvin wave phenomenon will not last for long and will shift to the Karimata Strait. However, heavy rain accompanied by lighting and strong winds could still occur suddenly in the afternoon until the evening because of other atmospheric factors. THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK