Families spend holiday trapped in floods

Families spend holiday trapped in floods

JAKARTA (JP): At least 167 families in Pondok Pinang and
dozens of others in Bintaro, South Jakarta, were trapped in water
all Tuesday night.

Heavy rains hit several other city areas causing traffic jams.

A city flood control official, Broto, said yesterday it began
raining 5 p.m. Tuesday.

He said the families refused food and other donations from
social services.

"But families in the Foreign Affairs Ministry housing complex
in Bintaro asked only for a life boat," he said.

The other families were in the Civil Servant Cooperatives
Association housing complex which is flood prone.

A few families have their own boats and said it was hard to
sell their homes because of the flooding.

The complex lies near to the Pesanggrahan river.

Broto said rain inundated the houses at 11:30 p.m. and reached
between 50 to 120 centimeters.

The water, which reached between 100 cm and 120 cm in nine
neighborhood units in Pondok Pinangict, started to ease at 4:30
a.m, he said.

Tuesday's downpour caused heavy congestion on Jl. Gunung
Sahari and the Ancol toll road in North Jakarta, Jl. Tanah Abang
in Central Jakarta, and the artery road in Pondok Pinang near
Permata Hijau in South Jakarta.

Drivers were trapped in bumper-to-bumper traffic on several
other roads.

"It took up to four hours to reach the Ancol area from Cawang
toll road," one driver said.

A container overturned on the Ancol toll road, worsening the
congestion. At least 20 people died in last year in floods during
January and February. (jun/ste)