Heavy downpours still haunt Jakarta<\/p>\n
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Amid fears that Tuesday's torrential rains, which caused
\nflooding in some parts of the capital, would recur, the
\nMeteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) predicted that heavier
\ndownpours were imminent.<\/p>\n
\"What worries us is that the tropical typhoon from Australia
\nhas still to come,\" said the agency's head of forecasting and
\nmeteorology services, Achmad Zakir, recalling that the storm was
\nexpected to arrive between January and February this year.<\/p>\n
Should the storm come, it would carry with it moist winds from
\nwaters off Java, resulting in possible heavier rain in most parts
\nof Java, including Jakarta, Zakir told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Zakir, however, was unable to tell exactly when the storm and
\ndownpours would arrive.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, the heavy downpours caused many parts of the
\ncapital to be inundated with water. They also caused heavy
\ntraffic congestion.<\/p>\n
\"As of today at about 11 a.m., the water still inundated a
\npart of Jl. Mampang Prapatan, South Jakarta, to about half the
\nheight of a car tire,\" a motorist said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
While the normal rainfall was 20 millimeters (mm) to 30 mm,
\nreports from BMG revealed that Tuesday's rainfall reached a peak
\nof 109.2 mm at Ciledug in the southern part of Jakarta. At
\nCengkareng, Tangerang and Kedoya, West Jakarta, the more than
\nfive hours of rainfall amounted to 81.4 mm and 80.2 mm
\nrespectively, while at Halim in East Jakarta it was 75.9 mm. The
\nrainfall was slightly less, at 59.2 mm, at Kemayoran, Central
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
Zakir warned that further flooding could be expected at any
\ntime, as the city would receive an abundant amount of rainfall.<\/p>\n
The agency also estimated earlier that a full moon during this
\nrainy season could spell flooding for parts of the capital.<\/p>\n
The tides are high during full moon. As the moon's
\ngravitational pull reaches its peak, it drags the water on the
\nearth's surface to its highest level.<\/p>\n
Therefore everyone, particularly those living near the sea,
\nshould be alert to possible flash floods when it rains hard
\nduring a full moon.<\/p>\n
According to the agency, the full moon will occur twice, on
\nJan. 28 and Feb. 27.<\/p>\n
Besides the tidal impacts from a full moon and localized heavy
\ndownpours, flooding could also result from heavy downpours that
\noccurred at the upper reaches of the Ciliwung and Cisadane rivers
\nin the Bogor area.<\/p>\n
Should heavy rain occur in the upper reaches of the rivers,
\nthe water will flow along 13 rivers through the city, possibly
\nresulting in floods here, even though it may not be raining in
\nJakarta itself.<\/p>\n
However, an employee at the city administration's flood
\ncontrol center, Nurdin, claimed that water levels at several of
\nthe city's main water gates were still safe.<\/p>\n
\"The water level at Depok water gate is 115 centimeters (cm)
\ntoday, while at Pesanggrahan water gate it is 75 cm, or far below
\nthe critical level of around 300 cm,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Nurdin said that when the downpour occurred on Tuesday, water
\nlevels at Depok and Pesanggrahan water gates rose only slightly,
\nto 125 cm and 85 cm respectively.<\/p>\n
Jakarta is also prone to flooding due to the fact that around
\n40 percent of the capital lies below sea level and due to the
\ncity's poorly performing drainage system.<\/p>",
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