PetaBencana.id provides residents, government agencies, and first responders with a real-time disaster information sharing system at an unprecedented scale. It is the first platform of its kind to harness the power of crowdsourcing through social media to aid humanitarian response and recovery.

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Amid triple cyclone, community-led information sharing shapes disaster response

Heavy rain and strong winds have caused flooding in several villages in South Sulawesi since Friday, February 7, 2025 (7/02/25). The popular tourist destination of Bali has also been severely affected, with disruptions to land, sea, and air travel. Floodwaters have inundated homes and public infrastructure, with some areas experiencing water levels reaching waist height. As floodwaters rose, PetaBencana.id, recorded a surge in community-generated reports, enabling emergency response teams to act swiftly in affected areas.

Reports submitted to PetaBencana.id from residents in Turikale District, Lau District, Bontoa District, Mandai District, Moncongloe District detailed flood levels ranging from ankle to waist-high. Community-led information sharing via PetaBenacna.id played an important role in shaping evacuation efforts. Verified community reports provided essential information to emergency response teams and volunteers to immediately direct aid to locations that need it most.

In response to reports posted on PetaBencana.id, BAZNAS teams quickly dispatched rubber boats to evacuate residents in flooded areas of Tanralili District, Borong Village, and Ammarrang Hamlet, Maros Regency.

Jumriah, a resident from South Sulawesi, underscored the role of community participation in shaping disaster response: “As heavy rains and extreme wind continue to affect our area, PetaBencana.id allows us to support each other and strengthen community preparedness by providing a simple way to view and share disaster reports in real-time. Witnessing the quick response that has emerged from reports shared on the platform, I am increasingly aware that disaster mitigation is our shared duty and responsibility.”

As heavy rains continued, PetaBencana.id also received an increase in reports documenting the impacts of extreme wind, with incidents of fallen trees blocking roads and rooftops being blown off in Simbang, Tanralili, Turikale, Lau, Moncongloe, and Camba Districts. PetaBencana.id’s real-time data enabled local authorities and volunteers to quickly identify and clear blocked roads, ensuring the safe movement of residents and emergency responders.


2024: A year of collective action

As 2024 — the hottest year on record — draws to a close, we are reminded that the story of this year is not just one of crisis, but of resistance, care, and possibility. It has been a year of escalating climate impacts, with record-breaking heat and a relentless cascade of disasters worldwide. Yet, in these moments of crisis, we also witness extraordinary ingenuity and solidarity as communities step forward to care for one another. PetaBencana.id and MapaKalamidad.ph were built to support this collective power. By leveraging what communities already know and do best – looking out for one another – these platforms have transformed smartphones and social networks into life-saving infrastructures, shaping systems of care that rise to the challenges of our time.

This year, that transformation took on new dimensions. This year alone:

In 2024, our platforms experienced a 150% increase in resident-submitted disaster reports compared to the previous year. Every disaster report submitted is a reminder that resilience is not a solitary act. It is a neighbor marking a flooded road, a parent warning others of a fire, a community leader sharing critical updates. It is the collective intelligence of millions, brought together in real time to protect what matters most. We have received heart-warming messages from mothers, teachers , youth, emergency managers, responders on what it has meant to collectively participate in disaster risk reduction efforts:

🌀 During Super Typhoon Carina (Typhoon Gaemi) in the Philippines, MapaKalamidad.ph received over 300 typhoon reports within a 36-hour period, and became a key line of communication between communities, local government units, and the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) as resident-reports helped shape and guide first response. This year, over 900 humanitarian organizations have been using the data from PetaBencana.id and MapaKalamidad.ph to support response, exemplifying the power of collective intelligence in transforming systems of care. According to Kasbu, emergency manager at the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of Rokan Hilir:

🙋Our movement is sustained by the millions of people who share their knowledge, report disasters, support their neighbors, and contribute to building a future rooted in mutual care and collective resilience. A key catalyst for this movement is our network of youth and climate ambassadors, which this year grew to 1330 active ambassadors. We are proud and grateful to work with the next generation of leaders, who continue to demonstrate that even though youth are among the most affected by climate-related disasters, they are also leaders of change in their communities. Supported by our micro-grant programs, their proactive initiatives have collectively trained over 42,174 people in disaster preparedness this year alone. That’s a 350% increase in community-led initiatives compared to last year! 🤩 

⭐We’ve marked some significant milestones this year:

At the start of the year, MapaKalamidad.ph expanded to a multi-hazard mapping platform for all of the Philippines. Less than a month after the launch, residents were already leveraging the newly integrated multi-hazard functionalities during the Earthquake in Caraga. Localizing our open-source software for the Philippines has been a deeply rewarding experience, showcasing how software can serve as vital knowledge infrastructure. By building on our work in Indonesia and sharing both technical tools, as well as strategies and lessons in community research, design, and outreach, we launched a multi-hazard platform in record time. It is a testament to the strength and importance of working on open source solutions for climate adaptation, as well as to the power of collaboration and knowledge exchange among the Global Majority.

In July, we marked a major milestone for climate adaptation with the launch of the first free real-time disaster notification service for all Indonesians . 🚨 This initiative addresses a profound challenge highlighted by the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report: the lack of locally-relevant, timely information as a critical barrier to effective climate adaptation. In just five months, over 24,535 notifications have been sent, bridging vital information gaps to help residents stay informed and act quickly. But this service is more than just a technical milestone—it is rooted in an understanding of how people perceive and respond to risk. By designing notifications informed by extensive research across diverse demographics, and integrating local knowledge, we ensure that these notifications translate into meaningful action.

🙌 The stories that our communities have shared have reaffirmed that beyond technical platforms, PetaBencana.id and MapaKalamidad.ph are spaces for connection and agency. The collective spirit of gotong-royong in Indonesia and bayanihan in the Philippines, that have been renewed through these challenging times is a testament to the strength of community-led climate adaptation.

PetaBencana.id officially partners with Indonesian Fishermen’s Union (KNTI) to strengthen coastal and ocean resilience for traditional fisher communities

Director of Yayasan Peta Bencana, Nashin Mahtani, and KNTI General Chair, Dani Setiawan, sign a Memorandum of Understanding on November 25th, 2024 to formalize the partnership among the two organizations.

We are thrilled to announce our official partnership with the Indonesian Traditional Fishermen’s Union (KNTI) to strengthen coastal and ocean resilience!

According to KNTI General Chair, Dani Setiawan, “Tidal floods are a scourge for coastal communities, especially for coastal women. The presence of tidal floods adds to the burden of coastal women, because in addition to submerging houses and roads, tidal floods also often hinder coastal women from producing processed marine and fishery products. This collobaration with Yayasan Peta Bencana will support KNTI’s members – who are small and traditional fishermen, cultivators, traditional fish farmers, processors and marketers of marine and fishery products – in adapting to climate change.”

At Yayasan Peta Bencana, our mission is to make life-saving disaster information accessible to all. Partnering with KNTI allows us to extend the reach of our platform, PetaBencana.id, to Indonesia’s traditional fishermen, ensuring that those most at risk can make informed decisions during disasters and adapt to a changing climate.

This collaboration is a vital step in addressing the unique challenges faced by Indonesia’s fisher communities, who rely heavily on the ocean for their survival but increasingly face existential threats from environmental degradation and climate change. By leveraging open-source technology and community organizing, Yayasan Peta Bencana and KNTI aim to strengthen disaster preparedness, protect coastal livelihoods, and strengthen safety to oceanic hazards as a result of climate change.

About

PetaBencana.id provides residents, government agencies, and first responders with a real-time disaster information sharing system at an unprecedented scale.

It is the first platform of its kind to harness the power of crowdsourcing through social media to aid humanitarian response and recovery.

PetaBencana.id is run and maintained by Yayasan Peta Bencana [Disaster Map Foundation].

How does it work?

Using AI-assisted, humanitarian chatbots, PetaBencana.id automatically responds to social media posts containing disaster-related keywords, asking users in disaster-affected areas to confirm their situation by submitting a disaster report.

Residents are guided through a few simple steps to submit a disaster report including: confirming their location, adding detail about the disaster severity (e.g. flood height), adding a photo, and description.

Reports are mapped in real-time on a free and open source website, PetaBencana.id. By integrating local knowledge from a variety of sources into a single, robust platform, PetaBencana.id is able to provide a comprehensive overview of disaster events, enabling residents, humanitarian agencies, and government agencies to make more informed decisions during emergencies.

First Reporters to First Responders

Since its debut in 2013 (as PetaJakarta.org),  the PetaBencana.id platform has been used by millions of resident users to make time-critical decisions about safety and navigation during emergency disaster events; it has also been adopted by the National Emergency Management Agency (BNPB) to monitor disaster events, improve response times, and share time-critical emergency information with residents.


Get Involved

The PetaBencana.id community is made up of a diverse group of volunteers, local community leaders, and professionals dedicated to building capacities for community-based disaster co-management. There are a number of ways to get involved!

Support open data & open software for climate adaptation:

Help us keep the map running as a free platform, so that everyone in Indonesia can have access to time critical information!

To donate via wire transfer, please email info@petabencana.id.

Become a Sustaining Partner: 

Partner with Yayasan Peta Bencana to increase employee engagement and Corporate Social Responsibility Programs! We also work with organisations to provide customized alerts to ensure the safety of your belongings and staff.

Become a Risk Ambassador:

Are you passionate about spreading disaster awareness and increasing preparedness in your communities? Sign up to become a risk ambassador – no experience needed, we will provide you the support you need!

Technology and Training:     

Yayasan Peta Bencana provides training to organizations, embassies, schools, and volunteer communities. Through digital literacy workshops we provide the necessary skills to safely and easily access and share time-critical information – leveraging capacities for everyone to participate in critical decision-making and boost community resilience. We can customize training to meet the needs of your organization.

Sign up for a training by sending us an email at info@petabencana.id!

Volunteer:

Contact us for current volunteer activities, or if you would like to get involved in other ways! We would love to hear from you!

Bring the crowd-sourced disaster mapping platform to your location:

The platform is now being further developed to address additional hazards and other geographies in South East Asia. If you would like to see a crowd-sourced disaster mapping platform implemented in your area, please contact us at info@petabencana.id.