BMG warns city of flooding

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Meteorologists warned the city administration and residents to brace for possible flooding with high levels of rainfall predicted for January.

The city already has witnessed heavy rain in the past several days.

"Both the Jakarta administration and residents have to prepare for high precipitation levels in January. Otherwise, flooding will be inevitable," Paulus Agus Winarso of the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) was quoted by city-owned news portal beritajakarta.com as saying on Thursday.

"The current rainfall is only the beginning of what we will see in January," he said.

Paulus also said environmental degradation, coupled with high rainfalls, played a role in flooding.

BMG, which is scheduled to hold a meeting next Tuesday to forecast rain levels for January, has always stressed the importance of preserving the environment.

Meanwhile, detik.com on-line news agency quoted a BMG employee as saying it was impossible to predict floods because there were too many contributing factors.

"We cannot forecast if there will be flooding or not but we can forecast whether rain levels will be normal or above normal.

"The higher the rainfall, the higher the possibility of flooding. A lot depends on residents keeping the waterways clear of all obstructions," the employee said.

Separately, a study has found that incessant rain for five hours in a 57.6-square-kilometer area along the Ciliwung River in January and February poses flood threats for the city.

Jakarta must brace itself if monthly rainfall exceeds 100 millimeters, according to the study. This equals 4,170 cubic meters per square kilometer per hour.

Jointly carried out by the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) and the Bandung Institute of Technology, the study began in October.

The study looked at rain levels along the Ciliwung River from 1989 to 2002. It also analyzed the height of the river in Depok since 1978.

Baginda Patar Sitorus of BPPT said the study predicted only about a 70 percent chance of flooding in January and February this year.