Floods displace 18,000 people across Jakarta

JAKARTA (JP): As many as 18,000 people were forced to flee on Thursday and Friday when floods struck their homes in various neighborhoods across Jakarta on Friday.

Three days of incessant rain in the capital combined with floods in Bogor, from where many rivers in Jakarta originate, caused rivers to overflow, inundating 11 subdistricts.

Kampung Melayu in the Jatinegara district in East Jakarta was the worst hit by the floods.

East Jakarta Mayor Andi Mappaganty told reporters after attending a plenary session at City Council that more than 2,500 houses in 90 neighborhood units were standing in 2.8 meters of floodwater.

In Kramat Jati in Cililitan district and Bidara Cina in Jatinegara district, the water reached two meters deep, while in Cililitan subdistrict in Cililitan, it reached 1.5 meters.

East Jakarta mayoralty has sent relief supplies comprising 100 kilograms of rice, hundreds of boxes of instant noodles and other basic needs to the stricken areas, Andi said.

It has also established two community kitchens in Kampung Melayu and one in Kramat Jati, he added.

Many residents in Kampung Melayu have been accommodated at nearby St. Maria school, he said.

The city's Agency for the Containment of Social Disruptions said water levels in the flood-stricken areas ranged from 10 centimeters to 280 centimeters.

The head of the agency, Raya Siahaan, said the floods in Central Jakarta, West Jakarta and North Jakarta were primarily caused by three days of rain, while those in South Jakarta and East Jakarta had their origins from floods in Bogor, which is south of the capital.

Eight community units in Kebon Baru of Tebet district, South Jakarta, were inundated by up to 160 centimeters of water, while three community units in Bukit Duri and Manggarai, both in Tebet district, were under 60 centimeters of water, he said.

The evacuees have been accommodated in the Bukit Duri subdistrict office, the RW 9 community hall and in private high school SMU Muhammadiyah, he added.

In West Jakarta, flood affected 1,400 houses in five community units in Kapuk, Cengkareng district.

In North Jakarta, five community units in Penjaringan subdistrict and four in Pademangan Timur were inundated by up to 30 centimeters of water.

In Central Jakarta, one community unit in Petamburan, Tanah Abang district, was inundated by up to 50 centimeters of water.

The floods also disrupted traffic in East Jakarta.

Police redirected traffic along Jl. Jatinegara Barat, Jl. Jatinegara Timur, Jl. Otto Iskandardinata and Jl. Matraman Raya to ease the heavy congestion on Friday afternoon.

Traffic also moved at a snail's pace between Kampung Melayu and Kuningan and between Cililitan and Taman Mini Indonesia Indah because of the floods.

Thursday's heavy downpour brought down at least 70 trees in public places, according to the City Park Agency.

A huge billboard structure fell and hit three passing cars on Jl. S. Parman in West Jakarta on Thursday afternoon. Two people suffered light injuries as a result.

The flood monitoring unit at Katulampa dam gate in Bogor warned on Friday of the possibly of more floods hitting Jakarta.

Amos Firdaus, a staffer at the unit, said the water at the gate had reached an abnormally high level.

"If rain continues, Jakarta will face a huge flood," he said.

"If there is no rain today (Friday), then the water level will return to normal," he said.

His warning may prove to be a false alarm as it rained only a little in Bogor on Friday morning.

In Serang, the floods affected not only residential areas along the overflowing Ciujung river, but also the toll road linking Tangerang and Merak.

The water level on a two-kilometer section of road near Undar Andir village, some 60 kilometers west of here, reached two meters on Friday, causing the toll road operator to close that stretch of the road.

Four trucks, which had been parked overnight, were trapped in the flood.

An employee of toll road operator PT Gerbang Mandala, Ridwan, said the flooding would take at least two days to subside, provided there were no more downpours.

He said the flooding this time around was worse than last year, which saw the same section of the toll road flooded to a depth of half a meter.

The closure of the toll road sparked heavy congestion on nearby roads with traffic being reduces to crawling along at five kilometers per hour.

The flood deluged at least six districts in the new province of Banten on Friday, affecting some 10,000 hectares. The villages of Undar-Andir, Nagara and Dukuh villages were the worst affected areas. (21/04/41)