Fear, grief prevail as floods return
Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Fear and distress were the order of the day for thousands of flood victims forced to return to temporary shelters after floodwaters again inundated residential areas on Saturday.
Frightened residents fled in panic as nearby rivers engulfed their homes. Heavy rains returned on Friday and became more intense on Saturday. Water from mountainous areas in Bogor that inundated low lying parts of the capital exacerbated the situation.
The Meteorology and Geophysics Agency has forecast that the rain would continue until the end of this month.
Sarmi, who was cleaning her house, some 50 meters from the Mokervart riverbank, when floodwaters returned rushed to a shelter in Rawa Buaya subdistrict, Cengkareng, West Jakarta.
Along with her husband and two children, she had been forced to stay at the shelter for almost 15 days before returning home on Friday.
"I thought the flood was over, but it came again. I won't return home until I'm sure that there'll be no more flooding," she said.
The exhausted mother said that she had just finished removing mud from her house and washing the family's clothes when the water returned, flooding the house to waist height.
"All our clothes were still wet in the house. We're wearing donated clothes," she said.
More than 2,500 flood victims sought refuge in the shelter, where street vendors normally operate, after the river, a tributary of the Cisadane, overflowed and engulfed the area to a depth of between 30 and 80 centimeters.
A further 500 flood victims returned to the Bukit Duri subdistrict office, South Jakarta, seeking shelter on Saturday.
Sumarni, who had stayed at the office for 10 days before returning home on Friday, said that she and her husband would not leave the refugee camp until the government guaranteed that there would be no more flooding.
"I'm very tired after cleaning the mud from my house. But now it's flooded again," the mother of three said.
Hundreds of houses in three community units near Sekretaris river were inundated as a six-meter dike collapsed again on Saturday.
The dike, which also collapsed last week, was temporarily repaired by authorities using sand bags, but it was again unable to cope with the strength of the floodwaters.
The City Public Works Agency positioned rocks alongside the dike on Saturday in a bid to halt the flooding.
The latest data from the city administration's Center for Social Disturbance Control indicated that Central Jakarta was not flooded. But, in fact, floodwaters again hit Petamburan, Kebon Kosong and Kemayoran.
Many areas in the city's five mayoralties were deluged in the afternoon with water levels reaching between 30 and 150 centimeters. The flooding was caused mainly by heavy rains in Bogor, southern Jakarta.
In Rawa Buaya, West Jakarta, flood victims sheltering in a mosque were able to take some solace from the birth of a baby boy on Friday.
The mother, Yunani, delivered the baby with the help of a midwife who was on duty at the health post in the area.
City Governor Sutiyoso, who visited the flood victims in the area, named the baby Adi Yoso after himself.
At least seven people have died over the past week as a result of flood-related illnesses, mainly diarrhea.
A member of the Bukit Duri subdistrict Hansip (civilian defense), Toha, died on Saturday while cleaning his house. The 45-year old man suffered head injuries when he slipped on a muddy floor.
An official report said that at least 21 people had died since the city was hit by almost two weeks of massive flooding, but data gathered on the ground suggested a death toll exceeding 30.