Causes of Flooding in Ciracas, East Jakarta on Eid al-Fitr Day
Flooding submerged nine neighbourhood units (RW) in the Ciracas sub-district, East Jakarta. The flooding occurred due to the overflow of the Cipinang River.
Ciracas sub-district head, Panangaran Ritonga, stated that the flooding happened after heavy rainfall. The rain fell on the area from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. WIB on Saturday (21/3/2026).
“The rain started in the afternoon. The water volume from the upstream area in Cimanggis, Depok, was quite large, causing the Cipinang River to overflow,” said Panangaran, quoted by Antara on Sunday (22/3).
Panangaran explained that out of the five villages in the Ciracas sub-district, four are crossed by the Cipinang River and were affected by the flooding.
The four affected areas include Cibubur Village, Kelapa Dua Wetan Village, Ciracas Village, and Rambutan Village.
The impacted areas are spread across nine RWs located along the riverbank. In Cibubur Village, flooding occurred in RW 05 and RW 06, while in Kelapa Dua Wetan Village, it submerged RW 02, RW 09, and RW 11.
Next, in Ciracas Village, flooding was reported in RW 04 and RW 05. Meanwhile, in Rambutan Village, flooding hit RW 01 and RW 03.
Panangaran mentioned that the water began to overflow from the Cipinang River around 6:30 p.m. WIB. Normally, the flooding in the area recedes in about two hours.
However, in this incident, the water had not receded even after more than three hours. “Normally it recedes in two hours, but until 10:00 p.m. WIB, the water still hadn’t receded; the flooding is really persistent,” he said.
According to him, the reason the flooding did not recede is suspected to be influenced by the high volume of incoming water from upstream areas and the river’s capacity not being able to accommodate the water volume.
His team, along with relevant parties, is continuing to monitor the situation in the field, especially in areas along the Cipinang River.
“We urge residents to remain alert to the potential for follow-up flooding, given that rainfall is still possible,” said Panangaran.
Additionally, residents in prone areas are asked to immediately report any increase in water flow or other emergency conditions so that they can be handled promptly by officials.
As a result of the flooding, personnel from the East Jakarta Fire and Rescue Agency (Gulkarmat) evacuated vulnerable residents, from infants to pregnant women.
“Our main focus is to save the most at-risk residents, such as infants, the elderly, pregnant women, and sick residents,” said Head of the East Jakarta Gulkarmat Agency, Muchtar Zakaria, when contacted in Jakarta on Sunday.
The flood height at Jalan H. Mardah RT 06/RW 03, Cibubur Village, reached about 1.7 metres, endangering residents’ safety, especially vulnerable groups.
A total of 47 people were successfully evacuated in the operation. Among them were six infants, six elderly, one pregnant woman, and two sick residents who were prioritised for immediate relocation to safe locations.
Additionally, East Jakarta Gulkarmat also evacuated six residents affected by flooding with water levels over one metre in the Cibubur and Ciracas areas on Saturday night (21/3).
The affected location was at Jalan H. Syarif RT 08 RW 10, Cibubur Village, Ciracas Sub-district, East Jakarta.
Muchtar explained that the water height at the location reached about 105 centimetres, endangering residents’ safety, especially those inside homes.
Officials then deployed one light rescue unit with four personnel to carry out the evacuation.