Floods swamp houses in East Jakarta

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

More than 500 houses in Kampung Makassar district, East Jakarta, were flooded over the weekend after the Cipinang River overflowed.

Residents said the floodwaters came suddenly late on Friday, although there had been no rain in the capital.

Many lost furniture and electrical appliances in the flood, which was 1.5 meters deep in some areas.

"The flood was triggered by torrential rains for days in Bogor, West Java," said Iwan, a resident of Kampung Makassar.

No fatalities nor injuries were reported.

Iwan said the flood began to recede on Saturday afternoon and had subsided completely by Sunday.

On Sunday, residents were seen busy cleaning up their homes from mud and garbage.

Another resident, Jumidi, said many residents were unprepared for the flooding because it was the first such incident in the area.

"The area was not even affected in the (great) 2002 floods in Jakarta," said Jumidi.

During the 2002 floods, at least one third of the capital was inundated with water and 32 residents were killed, with more than 300,000 people forced to flee their houses for temporary shelters.

Flooding is an annual occurrence in the capital, which has 13 rivers but does not have an effective flood control system.