Floods displace 18,000 people across Jakarta

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)