Heavy rain causes flood in Tangerang

Tangerang: Heavy rains caused flooding throughout several residential complexes in Tangerang last Saturday.

The affected complexes were the Alam Jaya, Pondok Arum and Regency Permai housing estates in Periuk district, as well as the Taman Cobodas housing estate in Cibodas district and the Total Persada housing estate in Pasar Kemis district.

Flood waters reached up to one meter high in Alam Jaya, 1.4 meters in Taman Cobodas, and 50 centimeters in Total Persada and Pondok Arum.

When The Jakarta Post visited the complexes Saturday morning, the flooding had subsided to 30 centimeters.

The flood, which forced the evacuation of many residents to safer areas, was caused by the Kali Sabi River, which had overflowed its banks, that passes through those housing complexes.

According to Felix Mulyana, coordinator of the Tangerang SAR (Search and Rescue) Team, 75 members of his team were deployed to help evacuate the residents from the complexes, which had also been hit earlier this year by the floods in January and February, when floodwaters had reached 2 meters.

Felix said that although the waters of the Cisadane River had dropped by 50 centimeters since last Saturday, his team would continue to monitor it.

He added that in anticipation of more flooding, the SAR had also established flood monitoring posts at community units in all subdistricts of Tangerang that are prone to flooding.--JP