Floods finally touch 'untouchable' areas

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.