BNPB reaches remote Kuwus hamlets after Flores quake assessment

Labuan Bajo — — The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) has carried out its first direct assessment in two remote hamlets in Kuwus Sub-district, West Manggarai, East Nusa Tenggara, following the magnitude-7.7 earthquake that struck Flores and surrounding areas on 15 August 2026. According to BNPB and local media reports, the assessment in Coal and Dahang hamlets documented 148 damaged houses and one fatality.

BNPB’s Deputy for Prevention, Abdul Muhari, said the field team conducted on-the-ground checks in Dusun Coal in Coal Village and Dusun Dahang in Pangga Village in Kuwus on Wednesday, 19 August 2026. The visit combined damage assessment with the delivery of relief supplies, including food aid for residents who had been difficult to reach.

Local reports describe the area near Mount Mbeliling as challenging to access, with BNPB teams travelling several hours by road from a support post in Labuan Bajo to reach the affected communities. BNPB has highlighted limited access as a key obstacle to aid distribution to hamlets outside main evacuation centres.

Damage and displacement

BNPB’s assessment in Coal and Dahang found a total of 148 damaged houses. The breakdown, according to BNPB, is 101 houses classified as heavily damaged, 12 moderately damaged and 35 lightly damaged.

The earthquake impact on residents has been significant. In Coal Village, 1,108 people were recorded as displaced, sheltering away from their homes. In Pangga Village, more than 20 families were reported to be self-evacuating rather than staying in formal evacuation centres.

Many residents have chosen to remain close to their homes, setting up temporary tents near less damaged houses. According to Abdul Muhari, concerns over aftershocks and trauma from the main quake have influenced decisions to stay near familiar surroundings. BNPB has pledged to continue supplying food and other basic necessities to both organised evacuation sites and self-evacuated groups.

Housing support and aid schemes

National data presented by BNPB shows that the government is preparing housing assistance for residents whose homes were damaged by the Flores earthquake. BNPB head Suharyanto has stated that support for repairs will be calibrated to the level of damage: Rp15 million for lightly damaged houses and Rp30 million for moderately damaged houses.

For homes deemed heavily damaged or destroyed, the government does not provide the same repair grants. Instead, according to BNPB statements, affected households will be offered permanent housing (hunian tetap), with interim options including temporary shelters (hunian sementara) or a housing waiting allowance (Dana Tunggu Hunian) while reconstruction is carried out.

BNPB officials have stressed that all assistance depends on verification of damage levels at village and sub-district level, a process that is still under way across the affected districts. The Kuwus assessment in Coal and Dahang forms part of this wider verification effort, which is intended to ensure that housing support reaches eligible families and avoids double counting.

Continuing challenges in remote areas

The visit to Coal and Dahang illustrates the difficulty of bringing aid to communities outside main transport corridors in West Manggarai. BNPB has acknowledged that damaged houses and displaced residents are spread across remote hills and farming areas, complicating logistics.

BNPB says it will continue follow-up actions in Kuwus, including further verification of housing damage and monitoring of displacement in Coal and Pangga. As of the assessment on 19 August, one death had been confirmed in the two hamlets, alongside the documented housing damage and displacement.

Nationally, BNPB reports tens of thousands of damaged houses across multiple districts in East Nusa Tenggara, with housing support and relocation plans expected to continue beyond the initial emergency phase. For residents of Coal, Dahang and other remote communities around Mount Mbeliling, the pace of reconstruction will largely depend on how quickly access routes can support sustained deliveries of materials and personnel.

Sources

• RRI Singaraja
• IDN Voice
• Suara.com
• Investor.id
• Liputan6