Indonesia Records 2,285 Disasters Through November 2, BNPB Says
Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) added seven incidents to its disaster tally, bringing the total to 2,285 as of November 2, 2026. The latest additions included four floods, two forest and land fires and one extreme-weather incident.
Latest incidents and Lumajang casualties
Berton Panjaitan, acting head of BNPB's Center for Data, Information, and Disaster Communication, presented the update at a November 3 press conference at the agency's studio.
The four floods occurred in Deli Serdang Regency in North Sumatra, Lumajang and Malang regencies in East Java, and Pidie Jaya Regency in Aceh. Forest and land fires, known as karhutla, were recorded in Parigi Moutong Regency, Central Sulawesi, and Klaten Regency, Central Java. Dairi Regency in North Sumatra accounted for the extreme-weather incident.
BNPB also reported two deaths in Lumajang from hydrometeorological disasters that included flash floods, inundation, landslides and extreme weather. The agency counted 1,567 affected families and 13 damaged houses, but said data collection and reporting were continuing.
Aircraft deployed for fire response
Berton said BNPB had deployed 51 aircraft and helicopters for forest and land fire operations across several regions. Of those, 30 were assigned to water bombing and 21 to aerial patrols and weather modification operations, known as OMC.
The agency reported that the fire-affected area in Central Kalimantan had risen 56 percent to 547 hectares. East Kalimantan's affected area increased 80 percent to 60 hectares. In Southern Papua, the area under fire management fell 25 percent to 455 hectares.
An earlier operational update, reported by Okezone News, detailed 18 weather-modification sorties through October 28. Those flights dispersed a combined 22,400 kilograms of sodium chloride (NaCl) and dry ice over Central Kalimantan, South Kalimantan and South Sumatra. Central Kalimantan accounted for eight sorties using 11,200 kilograms of NaCl and 500 kilograms of dry ice, with support from a Hercules aircraft registered A1328.
Regional haze and health impacts
Asia Media Centre described Indonesia's 2026 fire season as among the country's worst in recent years, driven by a strong El Niño pattern. Independent monitoring platform Nusantara Atlas put the burned area at nearly 900,000 hectares by late August. Fires had produced 76 million metric tons of carbon by September 7. The area burned in earlier severe seasons totaled 2.6 million hectares in 2015 and 1.65 million hectares in 2019.
The health effects extended across several months. According to Asia Media Centre's account of BBC reporting, Indonesia's Health Ministry recorded nearly 175,000 respiratory infection cases linked to the fires between July and September 2026.
ANTARA News reported that haze from Indonesian forest and land fires had reached Sabah and Sarawak in Malaysia, as well as Singapore, Brunei and the Philippines, including Manila.
On August 26, the ASEAN Secretariat activated Regional Alert Level 3 while serving as the interim office of the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Transboundary Haze Pollution Control. The alert required every ASEAN member state to provide daily situation reports with haze-trajectory maps. Indonesia's Foreign Ministry said it was meeting those reporting requirements.
West Kalimantan groups pursue legal action
The recurring fires have also prompted a class action lawsuit by Indigenous and civil society groups in West Kalimantan, according to Asia Media Centre. The groups accuse the Indonesian government of gross negligence and seek stronger fire management, environmental rehabilitation and assistance for affected communities.
President Prabowo Subianto and the West Kalimantan governor are among the case's ten defendants. None attended the opening hearing in Pontianak on October 7, 2026, after which the court adjourned proceedings until October 21.