Heavy storms pound Jakarta, eight perish<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Heavy rains continued to pound the city Tuesday, causing
\nmassive floods, a landslide and severe traffic jams in almost all
\nparts of Jakarta.<\/p>\n
As of Tuesday night, the huge floods had caused eight
\ndeaths, two missing and almost 10,000 people evacuated from their
\ninundated houses across Greater Jakarta.<\/p>\n
A landslide occurred in Pejaten, South Jakarta and killed
\nsix.<\/p>\n
In Cileduk, also in South Jakarta some 200 families were
\ntrapped in their inundated area, where the floodwater had risen
\nto 250 centimeters. And as of Tuesday night they had not yet
\nevacuated. At least two people were reported missing in the
\narea.<\/p>\n
The other areas most severely affected by the floods
\nincluded Cipulir in South Jakarta, where flood waters reached up
\nto 70 centimeters and up to 10 centimeters inside the Cipulir
\nMall, in Cipinang, East Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"The flood here started early Monday morning. On Tuesday
\nmorning the water had submerged us. But then the water rose even
\nmore and within 30 minutes reached up to 2.5 meters. As a result,
\nmany families could not escape the flood and are trapped inside
\ntheir houses,\" said Mrs. Muchar, a mother of three in the Cileduk
\nIndah housing complex.<\/p>\n
She said that the water current in the area was very
\nstrong and that was why two children went missing, presumably swept away.<\/p>\n
\"We are trapped here and have almost run out of foods and
\neven my two-month-old-baby could no longer drink milk as we ran
\nout of it,\" said Mrs. Lubis, a mother of three children in the
\narea.<\/p>\n
The flood in Cileduk was apparently caused by the
\noverflow of the Angke River. Every year floods in the area hit
\nthem. So far, there were no rescue teams in sight.<\/p>\n
In Tangerang, about 7,000 houses were inundated by the
\nfloods in six districts, with the water level in Jatiuwung and
\nPeriuk Jaya up to between three and five meters. Two people were
\nreportedly killed. The first victim, Ferry, 25, a resident of
\nKarang Tengah subdistrict, died in an accident of electrocution
\non Monday, while Nurmailiani, 11, a resident of Gaga subdistrict
\ndrowned in the Sipon river.<\/p>\n
Due to the rain, traffic jams also occurred everywhere.<\/p>\n
The Bitung tollgate was closed on Tuesday because
\nflooding also inundated a part of the road heading to the
\ntollgate, exactly under the flyover heading to Merak.<\/p>\n
Many vehicles broke down in the flood under the flyover, causing
\na seven-kilometer long traffic jam.<\/p>\n
The traffic jams in Jakarta also terribly affect
\nthousands of commuters who were stranded on the street later in
\nthe evening as they failed to find any public transportation.<\/p>\n
Many motorists were trapped in the traffic congestion for
\nhours as they were stuck one the congested roads.<\/p>\n
RI have been here for about two hours, above the Simpruk
\nflyover and the traffic has moved only a few hundreds meters,S a
\nprivate company employee complained.<\/p>\n
Another motorist said that it took him two and a half
\nhours to get home, while usually he only needed no more than 40
\nminutes.<\/p>\n
\"I left The Regent in South Jakarta at 9:15 p.m. and
\narrived home in Bintaro, South of Jakarta at 11:45 p.m. Traffic
\njams were everywhere. I had to change direction several times in
\norder to avoid the congestionI Thank God, at last I am home,\" he
\ntold The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Traffic jams and floods have been the problems of Jakarta
\nfor years, but it seems that things become increasingly worse as
\nmore development takes place in catchment areas and green belts.<\/p>\n
According to an expert, the problem of flooding in the
\ncapital city was worsening due to continuing violations of the
\nJakarta Master Plan, which had resulted in a decrease in the
\nnumber of catchment areas.<\/p>\n
Paulus Agus Winarso of the Geophysical and Meteorological
\nAgency (BMG) told The Jakarta Post here on Monday that the recent
\ndownpours in Jakarta actually measured less than 100 millimeters,
\nfar lower than the worst-ever level of 400 millimeters recorded
\nin 1996.<\/p>\n
Heavy rains caused the flooding that paralyzed the
\ncapital in late January 1996 in the city itself and the adjacent
\nareas of Bogor, Sukabumi and Depok.<\/p>\n
\"Floods in Jakarta have become a serious problem since
\nthe 1990s as its development activities have not been in line
\nwith its master plan,\" Paulus said.<\/p>\n
Due to violations of the plan, catchment areas have been
\ndecreasing, as they have been converted for other uses. He also
\ncited the transformation of dozens of greenbelts into fuel
\nstations and other business uses.<\/p>",
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