Heavy rains 'to ease after one or two days'<\/p>\n
The torrential rain that has been falling on the capital will
\nmost likely ease after another one or two days of downpours, an
\nofficial from the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) said on
\nWednesday.<\/p>\n
Paulus Agus Winarso said that during the past five days, the
\nheaviest rain had fallen on Tuesday night, but that the downpours
\nwould most likely ease after Friday or Saturday.<\/p>\n
\"The rains reached their peak on Tuesday for now ... whatever
\nhappens later ... we believe it will not be as bad as Tuesday
\nnight, or probably Wednesday night,\" Paulus told The Jakarta
\nPost.<\/p>\n
\"I do not believe things could get any worse than Tuesday's
\nconditions,\" Paulus said.<\/p>\n
Paulus made his comments despite a statement released by the
\nBMG on Wednesday morning warning that worsening weather
\nconditions would \"most likely trigger heavier downpours,
\nparticularly in the west and southern regions of western
\nIndonesia.\"<\/p>\n
The areas most at risk, according to the statement, included
\nWest Sumatra, Java, Bengkulu, Lampung, the southern and eastern
\nparts of South Sumatra, Bali, Nusa Tenggara, southern parts of
\nKalimantan, southern parts of Sulawesi, and Irian Jaya.<\/p>\n
The statement also said that since the start of the year, the
\ncumulative rainfall figure for Tanjung Priok amounted to 766.8
\nmm, which was much higher than the normal cumulative figure of
\n468 mm.<\/p>\n
The BMG's head of forecasting and meteorology services, Achmad
\nZakir, had earlier said that heavier downpours would occur if a
\ntropical cyclone from Australia, expected to arrive between
\nJanuary and February of this year, were actually to strike.<\/p>\n
Paulus said on Wednesday that to date there had been
\n\"absolutely no sign\" of the cyclone and even if it did arrive,
\nIndonesia would only be affected \"outwardly\".<\/p>\n
Further flooding could be expected at any time, Paulus said,
\ndue to, among other things, high tides, the inadequate city
\ndrainage system, and the converting of water catchment areas into
\nresidential areas.<\/p>\n
\"Other than precipitation, the misuse of catchment areas, the
\ndestruction of greenbelts and the city's severely deficient
\ninfrastructure have left the capital totally defenseless in
\ndealing with such natural disasters,\" Paulus said.<\/p>\n
He added that Jakarta's 13 rivers were no longer able to cope
\nwith such exceptionally heavy rainfall as had occurred over the
\nlast few weeks due to, among other factors, the amount of garbage
\nbeing thrown into the rivers and the building of houses on
\nriverbanks.<\/p>\n
\"This is the reason why the watercourses cannot handle the
\nmassive run-off,\" Paulus said, adding that the city's
\ninfrastructure was also not designed to cope with such high
\nrainfall so that it had to rely on the rivers.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/heavy-rains-to-ease-after-one-or-two-days-1447893297",
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