Floods finally touch 'untouchable' areas
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Torrential rains pounded Jakarta and its adjacent highland suburbs in Depok and Bogor on Friday night, causing the floodwater, which had been receding the day before, to rise again and even reach areas previously regarded as untouchable, flooding them to a depth of 1.5 meters.
After a day of no rain and with people still dealing with the aftermath of the floods that paralyzed the city from Monday to Wednesday, the torrential rains on Friday night were concentrated in Depok, with rainfall of 150 millimeters (mm), followed by Bogor at 126 mm and Jakarta, with 25 mm to 80 mm.
The rainfall was actually lower than the peak of 250 mm on Tuesday, but due to the opening of the Manggarai floodgate in South Jakarta and incessant rain in the highlands (where all 13 of the city's rivers originate), the flooding worsened again.
Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso decided to open the floodgate after much pressure from local residents in southern areas, who ran amok on Friday, as they could no longer bear being continually flooded.
After Manggarai floodgate was opened by 1.4 meters on Friday, some parts of the city's business, government and residential areas in Menteng and Gambir districts, previously untouched by flooding, saw floodwater rise to a depth of 0.5 meter to 1.5 meters on Saturday.
A number of office buildings in those areas, particularly on Jl. Sudirman, Jl. MH Thamrin, Jl. Rasuna Said, Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan and Jl. Medan Merdeka Timur, were cut off by flooding until Saturday night.
The floodwater inundated several buildings, such as Cikini Hospital and the five-star Regent Hotel, in Jl. Rasuna Said, South Jakarta, to a depth of one meter, and the vice presidential palace on Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan to the depth of 0.5 meter.
On Saturday afternoon, some roads saw water levels decrease significantly. Others, including around Regent Hotel, Jl. Rasuna Said, Jl. Sudirman, Jl. Cilacap and Jl. Surabaya, Menteng, still looked like rivers, as the muddy water had receded only slightly.
Regent Hotel guests had to be transported by rubber dinghies on Saturday to a nearby dry area so that they could travel to Soekarno-Hatta Airport by bus.
The flooding caused by Friday's torrential rain also hit almost every part of the city, reaching a depth of eight meters in Ciracas, East Jakarta, six meters in Pancoran and four meters in Bintaro, both of which are in South Jakarta.
On Saturday afternoon, data from the morgue of the Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital showed that six people had died due to electrocution, and three teenagers were swept away by floodwater. On Friday, 21 people were reported dead and two missing.
Data from the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) showed on Saturday that rainfall could still pound the city and its southern highlands but would be below the peak level of 250 mm on Tuesday.
"Today and for the next few days it will very likely be rainy but with less than the peak of 250 mm," a BMG employee, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Jakarta Post.