Elderly and infants evacuated from flood location in Cipinang Melayu
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The East Jakarta Fire and Rescue Service (Gulkarmat Jaktim) evacuated several residents, including the elderly and babies, who were trapped by floods in RW 04, Cipinang Melayu, Makasar Subdistrict.
“We evacuated about 12 people in Cipinang Muara, including the elderly and babies,” said the head of the Rescue Team, Andi, at the flood site in East Jakarta on Sunday.
Andi admitted that authorities received reports of residents needing evacuation assistance due to floods in the area.
The evacuation process was carried out by rescuers with eight personnel equipped with various tools.
A rubber boat was also used to ferry residents to a safer location.
In addition, several elderly residents were evacuated because of their vulnerable condition in the flood situation.
“Thank God, all residents were successfully evacuated. Everyone is safe,” Andi said.
Nevertheless, he added, the evacuation faced difficulties due to narrow access roads to the settlement and having to cross a river with a fairly strong current.
“The road access is quite narrow and we had to cross the river. So, at that time the team deployed quite a lot of equipment to reach the incident site,” Andi explained.
After the rescue process concluded, all evacuees were moved to a safer place, namely a relief post established by the Regional Disaster Management Agency in front of the RW post.
He stressed that all evacuees were confirmed to be in safe condition.
Andi urged the public to remain vigilant against flood potential, especially during heavy rainfall which can raise water discharge in several streams in East Jakarta.
The floodwater height in the residents’ housing in RW 04, Cipinang Melayu, Makasar, East Jakarta reached 1.5 metres on Sunday morning, due to the overflow of Kali Sunter and heavy rain since Saturday night (7/3).
At least six neighbourhood associations (RT) in RW 04 were affected by flooding with water depths varying up to 1.5 metres.
The RTs affected in RW 04 Cipinang Melayu include RT 1, RT 2, RT 3, RT 4, RT 5 and RT 7.
As of now, residents of RW 04 Cipinang Melayu are still on standby and hope the water recedes quickly, while regional administrators in the area continue monitoring water levels and the readiness of evacuation sites.