A wet start to the city's new year
A wet start to the city's new year
M. Taufiqurrahman and Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Flooding dampened spirits for thousands of residents as they
welcomed the new year in many parts of Jakarta in the wake of
heavy downpour over the last few days as forecast earlier by the
Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG).
Water inundated substantial parts of the elite Pluit housing
complex, Penjaringan, Kapuk Muara, Kamal Muara, Sunter and Kelapa
Gading, all in North Jakarta, on Wednesday and Thursday.
Floodwaters submerged roads and a number of houses located in
the lower part of the housing complex. The floods also reached
the vicinity of Mega Mall Pluit and Pluit Plaza, forcing would-be
shoppers to look for an alternative entrance into the shopping
centers.
Dozens of sidewalk vendors outside the malls whose makeshift
stalls were inundated continued trading.
The floodwater along the road in the housing complex ranged
between 10 centimeters and 80 cm.
"Last night, when the water was at the highest level, only
drivers of big trucks dared to tackle the roads," a security
guard told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
The Jakarta Flood Mitigation Agency has repeatedly warned
residents in flood prone areas to be prepared for possible
flooding caused by torrential rain that is forecast for the city
in the next two months.
BMG has forecast that the capital will see 26 to 28 rainy days
in January with a precipitation of 50 mm to 100 mm per day. It
takes only 75 mm of rainfall daily for three consecutive days to
inundate several areas.
In Kali Angke, West Jakarta, floods inundated around 2,300
houses and roads in seven neighborhood units with 80 centimeters
of water.
Almost 700 families in Pulo Gebang, East Jakarta were still
struggling to remove water with buckets that had inundated their
houses at a height of 20 cm on Thursday. A day earlier, the water
reached 120 cm.
Head of the service and forecast division of BMG, Ahmad Zakir,
reminded residents to stay alert, although the sun was already
shining on Thursday.
He said that a mere three hours of non-stop rain would be
enough to cause floods.
In the last three days, between 100 mm and 200 mm of rainfall
had poured down over Jakarta and caused floods.
"If a similar amount of rain continues in the next few days,
combined with the high tide during the full moon on Jan. 7,
severe inundation will occur in prone-flood areas," Ahmad told
the Post.
Contacted separately, secretary of the flood mitigation task
force, Soebagio, said that the city administration was well-
prepared to deal with the adverse impacts of floods.
"We have dredged several rivers in the city and distributed Rp
10 million (US$1100) as relief funds to flood-prone
subdistricts," he said on Wednesday.
The task force also has around 150 stationary water pumps and
another 16 mobile pumps at its disposal. It also distributed
inflatable rubber dinghies to all flood-prone neighborhoods in
the capital.
"The first priority is to help prevent a major disruption in
economic activities," he said.