Facing El Niño, Jakarta Continues to Anticipate Flood Potential

The Jakarta Provincial Government (Pemprov) will continue to anticipate the potential for flooding despite the current El Niño phenomenon. This is because, in recent times, the Jakarta area has frequently been hit by high-intensity rain. Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung stated that the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has reported that the El Niño phenomenon or dry season will occur from April to September 2026. However, high-intensity rain still frequently occurs in Jakarta, leading to flooding. “In reality, there have been several instances of rain, including the recent one with rainfall of nearly 150 millimetres per day that caused flooding,” he said at Jakarta City Hall on Thursday (7/5/2026). Therefore, he said he has ordered his subordinates to continue anticipating flood disasters. He does not want the El Niño phenomenon to reduce preparedness for flooding. “I have ordered the Bappeda team, as well as Water Resources, to continue anticipating and carrying out dredging of the existing rivers so that it does not happen like the other day,” Pramono stated. He assessed that high-intensity rain remains possible even under El Niño conditions. Therefore, anticipatory efforts must still be carried out to address flooding. Pramono also requested that cleaning of the canals continue to be done. This way, there will be no more rubbish obstructing the canal flow when it rains. “The other day, the information was that El Niño had arrived, it was dry, but it turned out to rain. And that caused some places where rubbish and so on obstructed, and that must not happen again,” he said. It is known that several areas in Jakarta were reported to be flooded on Monday (4/5/2026). At least, there were 115 neighbourhood units (RT) affected by flooding in Jakarta due to high-intensity rain.