158 Nioniba Families Still in Collective Shelter as Ende Ends Emergency Phase

Ende — — Around 158 families from Nioniba hamlet in Kebirangga village, Maukaro district, remained in collective shelters in early September following the Flores earthquake, as Ende regency moved toward the scheduled end of its emergency phase on 12 September 2026, according to local officials and media reports.

The Kebirangga village chief, Yohakim (Yoakim) Sumbi, told local media that about 158 households — roughly 500 people — from Nioniba were still staying at a centralized evacuation site in the hamlet several weeks after the magnitude 7.7 quake struck Flores on 15 August. He said these were essentially all residents of Nioniba, who chose to remain in tents at the site rather than return to their homes.

According to his account, fear and trauma associated with continuing aftershocks were key reasons residents stayed at the evacuation post. Nioniba’s coastal location and damage to houses in the hamlet also influenced decisions to keep families in temporary shelters while authorities and technical teams assessed building safety.

Shelter conditions and basic needs

Reporting by TribunFlores noted that the 158 affected families from Nioniba were sheltering along the North Flores coast near the hamlet, after their homes were damaged and deemed unfit for occupation. Local leaders there recorded 14 houses with total collapse, 42 with moderate damage and 15 with minor damage, underscoring why many residents were reluctant to move back.

Community representatives told the outlet that clean water and drinking water were among the most urgent needs at the site. They also highlighted the need for tarpaulins to improve temporary living spaces and provide more adequate protection for families staying in tents near the shoreline.

National bodies and charities have begun directing support to Nioniba in response to those conditions. Indonesia’s National Alms Agency (BAZNAS) reported distributing 145 packages of blankets and sleeping mats to evacuees at Nioniba in mid-September, part of 550 such packages delivered to earthquake survivors in Flores and surrounding districts. The agency said the items were intended to help people living in tents and roadside shelters cope with exposure and basic comfort needs while longer-term recovery measures are prepared.

Emergency phase and transition to recovery

The Nioniba evacuation site remained active as Ende regency and the province approached the formal end of their extended emergency status. The governor of East Nusa Tenggara had earlier extended the provincial emergency response for the Flores quake from 29 August to 12 September 2026, citing ongoing aftershocks and the scale of damage across affected districts.

At regency level, Ende’s emergency response period lasted 28 days and was scheduled to conclude on Saturday, 12 September. Regional broadcaster RRI reported that on that date the local government shifted from emergency operations to a 60-day transition phase toward rehabilitation and reconstruction, running until 11 November. Officials stated that during this transition, teams would focus on verifying housing damage, restoring public services and directing assistance to residents whose homes were still unsafe.

Ende’s disaster-management agency and technical teams had already begun a second phase of emergency work in early September, concentrating on detailed verification of damaged homes in all affected villages. By mid-September, local media reported that verification had reached only part of the more than 7,000 houses in the first data set for Ende, indicating that many families, including those in Nioniba, were likely still waiting for formal assessments to be completed.

Continuing displacement in Nioniba

As of reports published between 8 and 17 September, officials and journalists described Nioniba as one of the locations where residents remained collectively displaced despite the official end of the emergency phase. The village chief’s estimate of 158 families and roughly 500 people at the centralized evacuation site in Nioniba aligned with TribunFlores’ separate reporting on the number of affected households and the damage categories for their homes.

Local authorities and aid organisations have signalled that support for evacuees in Nioniba and other hamlets would continue through the transition period. However, detailed arrangements for how long families will be able to stay at the communal site, what shelter upgrades will be provided, and when homes will be declared safe for return are still being worked out as verification and recovery programmes proceed.

Sources

• Pos-Kupang (regional news site)
• Tirto.id
• RRI Ende
• IHCP Indonesia
• Florespos.net