UNISDR
Community-based action in the shadow of the Mount Merapi volcano
When Indonesia’s Mount Merapi volcano erupted on 26 October 2010, officials and members of the community-based action team (CBAT) in Wonodoyo village, Boyolali district, sounded the long sirens to warn residents of the danger.
At the time, the Integrated Community Based Risk Reduction (ICBRR) program had just started its implementation and the community had not taken part in disaster preparedness simulation yet. Therefore, they were unaware on the siren’s meaning.
Despite the community’s lack of response to the siren, the head of the village and the CBAT commander took immediate action. They utilized the early warning system although they had just learned about its function. As the community had not been familiarized with standard evacuation procedures, the village officials and CBAT faced difficulties mobilizing them. Some of them even refused to leave their homes. “Dust!” was their reason. However, the CBAT members persistently persuaded the residents to leave.
The sirens continued to wail, up to a point that two of them broke down. “Even when Merapi erupts, the community will not react much. They are mostly passive. This kind of reaction always happens, like a tradition,” Slamet Haryanto, ICBRR field coordinator in Boyolali district said.
The community of Cluntang village, Boyolali district is much more responsive. They had participated in a disaster simulation on 19 October 2010, just a week before the volcano erupted, which was very useful in the situation. The villagers immediately understood what to do when the sirens were sounded, the evacuation process was smooth, and they knew the location of the assembly point. Even the CBAT members were also well-prepared, since it had only been a week since the simulation. The procedures for evacuation and first aid were still fresh in their minds.
The bottom line is that simulation training makes mobilization much easier.
The conditions at Kemiren and Kaliurang villages were even more different. These both villages are in the areas most vulnerable to the effects of an eruption, since they are located only 7 kilometres from the crater, and being in the pathway of the lava flow, are exposed to hot ash and volcanic dust.
When the volcanic activities increased, the CBAT did not continuously tell the community the latest information. This helped keep the community calm and organized. Information from the Volcanology Agency was relayed to the village and the CBAT commander, and then shared with the community. CBAT members sent alert messages to the residents through mobile phones or HT radio, and visited the people one by one afterwards.
Once Merapi erupted, the volunteers helped evacuate the community. The people were immediately directed towards the assembly point, and onwards to district temporary shelters, until all of them could be evacuated to a safe location in the city. The CBAT and PMI volunteers, putting their own safety at risk, together with the village officials divided up the responsibility to carry out the evacuation, prepare the location of the shelters, arrange food for the displaced and sweep the area.
The people from both villages have been living with the hazards of Merapi for years and the ICBRR program is nothing new for them. As a result of its implementation, they were more cooperative and responded positively to the CBAT’s direction during the emergency period.
The Indonesian Red Cross ICBRR program, supported by the Danish Red Cross and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, had only been partially implemented at the time of the eruption. CBAT members had been recruited, and had been trained in 11 districts. They had undergone socialization programs in which they were given information on hazards from Merapi. Although the program cycle had not been completed, the CBAT members in four villages on the slope of the volcano were well prepared. They responded quickly and did their best to keep the villagers safe.
The volcanic activities of Merapi may come and go, and will always impact the people living at its foot. Residents, together with their CBATs, are now much more prepared - and this will certainly change their response in the event of a new eruption.
This post was submitted by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, to which we extend our thanks.