Floods hit parts of Jakarta

Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A two-hour downpour that deluged most parts of Jakarta on Saturday night starting at around 9 p.m., caused massive floods in several locations in the capital.

In Central Jakarta, the flood waters swamped parts of Jl. Sudirman, with the water reaching 50 centimeters at its highest.

Floods also inundated Jl. Darmawangsa, Jl. Ciledug Raya, and Jl. Kemandoran with the water reaching about 50 centimeters in depth.

"I was on my way from Jl. Darmawangsa to Slipi, West Jakarta, passing along Jl. Sudirman. There were floods along Jl. Sudirman. And right in front of the Jakarta Stock Exchange building, the water was around 50 centimeter deep," said a resident.

Due to the heavy rain and the flooding, vehicles had to crawl along at a snail's pace, causing traffic jams in certain areas.

The most severely affected area was Grogol, West Jakarta. The water level there, especially in the area of the Citra Land Mall, reached more than 50 centimeters, Antara reported.

The floods also inundated the sides of Jl. Tanjung Duren Raya, West Jakarta, where the water reached almost one meter in depth, flooding a gas station and the West Jakarta fire brigade station.

As a result of the flood, the fire brigade was forced to move its fire engines to higher ground.

The Meteorology and Geophysics Agency had predicted that heavier rains could hit Jakarta at anytime in January and February.

Aris, a resident of neighborhood unit 13 in Tomang subdistrict, Grogol, said that the flooding started at around midnight. Previously, there had been an electricity outage in the neighborhood, which added to the misery.

"I just moved to this neighborhood today. My things were still all over the place when the house was flooded," he said.

Aris added that as of 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, the roadsides of his neighborhood were still flooded up to a depth of 10 centimeters.

The state electricity company PLN had earlier stated that it planned to shut down its power transformers in a number of areas in order to avoid electrocutions.

In East Jakarta, the floods hit several area in Cipinang subdistrict, with the water level reaching up to 30 centimeters.

In North Jakarta, Jl. Teluk Gong and Kebon Bawang subdistricts were inundated up to a depth of 50 centimeters.

Kardono, a resident of the subdistrict, said that his neighborhood had been suffering from flooding during the rainy season for the last 35 years.