Residents ill-prepared for anticipated floods<\/p>\n
Annastrashya Emmanuelle, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Although many people vividly remember 1996, when
\nJakarta's worst flooding inundated most of the city, this year
\nfew are prepared for the coming torrential rains, saying they
\nwere unaware of any potential disaster.<\/p>\n
Massive flooding, however, has been predicted by Meteorology
\nand Geophysics Agency (BMG) experts to hit Jakarta in about two
\nweeks following a five-year cycle, which is caused by heavy
\nrainfall in Jakarta and its surrounding areas.<\/p>\n
Yet residents in flood-prone areas say that, due to repeated
\nexperience, they find it unnecessary to take any special
\nprecautions.<\/p>\n
"My house is flooded whenever there's rain, so I'm 'trained'
\nfor flood," said one housewife, Linda, a 33-year resident of
\nBukit Duri, a subdistrict in South Jakarta which has
\ntraditionally felt the brunt of flooding every year.<\/p>\n
The subdistrict is one of the 78 flood-prone areas in Jakarta,
\naccording to city administration officials.<\/p>\n
In fact, Linda told The Jakarta Post, she has experienced so
\nmuch flooding, she has now lost count.<\/p>\n
"Of course the worst was the one in 1996," she said. "The
\nbottom part of my house was completely inundated with water...
\nwe moved some of our furniture to the nearby mosque and slept on
\nthe second floor of the house," she said.<\/p>\n
At the time, she was five months pregnant with her second
\nchild. Thus, having to move belongings around the house proved an
\nextremely exhausting task for Linda and her husband.<\/p>\n
Still, Linda counts herself as fortunate. "We're lucky to have
\nthe second floor -- others have had to take refuge at the
\nsubdistrict office or the mosque," she added.<\/p>\n
"But it was particularly difficult at that time, since the
\nwater was very high -- we were almost trapped at the house
\nwithout food," she continued.<\/p>\n
However, there were food donations from the subdistrict
\noffice, which were distributed to local residents, Linda said,
\nadding that she has not heard from subdistrict officials on the
\nexpected floods.<\/p>\n
"There'll be another big flood?" she asked. "I haven't heard
\nof that... I thought it will be the usual flood like every rainy
\nseason," she said.<\/p>\n
Not far from Linda's house, Yanah, whose house was built but a
\nmeter away from the Ciliwung river, said that she was also
\nunaware of the impending floods.<\/p>\n
Her first house, a semi-permanent, was destroyed in 1996,
\nafter being completely submerged in water for a full week.<\/p>\n
Yanah and her family were among the many people that took
\nshelter at the local mosque. But as it grew crowded, they moved
\nto a neighbor's house while waiting for the water in their house
\nto recede.<\/p>\n
"Even though the water had abated, it came seeping from the
\ncracked floor, so we had to tear down the house and build a new
\none," she explained, noting that she did not receive any food
\nassistance from the government.<\/p>\n
"They never prepared us for flood, and didn't assist us during
\nthe trying times -- perhaps because they think that it's our
\nconsequence for living at the river side," she remarked.<\/p>\n
But the chief of the Bukit Duri subdistrict, Cholid Mawardi,
\ncontested the allegation, saying that he has been alerting
\nresidents for the last month.<\/p>\n
"I told them to be prepared for flood, as the rainy season is
\ncoming; I have been warning them since the fasting month," he
\ntold the Post.<\/p>\n
As there is nothing his office could do to prevent the flood,
\nCholid said, officials are preparing flooding assistance posts at
\nthree locations in the area, where they would erect a temporary
\npublic kitchen while providing health service.<\/p>\n
When asked about people who did not receive food assistance
\nduring the flood, Cholid said it was impossible to provide food
\nfor every resident.<\/p>\n
"We are limited in resources," he said. Meanwhile, "there are
\nmore than 1,000 residents in my area."<\/p>\n
Meantime, in Pademangan, North Jakarta, another flood-prone
\narea, Isnaini recalls two weeks of living without electricity as
\nher power was disconnected due to flooding.<\/p>\n
"The water in my house was about a meter high ... although
\nwater is everywhere, it was difficult to get clean water," she
\nsaid, adding that she, along with her family, were also forced to
\nmove to the second floor of their house.<\/p>\n
Despite the flood, Isnaini persisted on running her makeshift
\nfood stall located not too far away from her house.<\/p>\n
"I walked to the market while the water was at knee high. But
\nI reckon, if I close the business, there won't be any income."<\/p>\n
"I didn't know there would be another flood like the one in
\n1996 ... I suppose we'll be moving things around again this
\nyear," Isnaini said, hoping the BMG's forecasts are, at the very
\nleast, partly inaccurate.<\/p>",
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