Heavy rains 'en route' to capital

Heavy rains 'en route' to capital

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A storm felled trees on Saturday in several areas of the city,
worsening traffic congestion and warning of prolonged rain
predicted for next week.

The Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) reiterated
warnings, particularly for the residents of flood-prone areas,
saying the city would soon see the worst of the rainy season.

"Downpours have been more frequent. Next week, the rainy
season will really have started in Jakarta. So we must be on the
alert for possible flooding," BMG's chief of public
meteorological services Achmad Zakir told The Jakarta Post on
Saturday.

Flooding due to the city's poor drainage system and trees
uprooted in the storm were the cause of major traffic jams in
Palmerah, Pejompongan and on Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan in Central
Jakarta; and in Kebayoran Lama and Pondok Indah in South Jakarta,
according to Detik.com news portal.

Zakir said indications of more bad weather in store were
downpours in the mornings as well as the evenings and rain
reaching up to 50 millimeters a day.

While it has rained harder than usual over the past few days,
particularly in the southern part of the city, the BMG has
recorded average rainfall of some 30 millimeters per day and says
downpours are confined mostly to the evenings .

Zakir was not prepared to comment on the severity of flooding
that was expected, saying this was partially dependent on the
preparations of the City Public Works Agency, including the
maintenance of drainages and the dredging of rivers.

There are 78 flood-prone areas across the city, mostly on the
banks of the 13 major rivers, the majority of which originate in
Puncak, Bogor, West Java.

The city administration had made it clear on more than one
occasion that it cannot prevent the annual floods in the city.

It said flooding would be significantly reduced after the
completion of the East Flood Canal, which, together with the
existing West Flood Canal, would form a half circle canal, to
accommodate runoffs from the 13 rivers.

It was reported last week that a person was killed in a
building that collapsed following the flooding of Cililitan Kecil
River in East Jakarta.

The heavy rain on Saturday lashed almost all areas of five
municipalities.

Rusli, an officer on duty at the Jakarta Crisis Center, said
the heaviest downpours on Saturday occurred in Central Jakarta,
South Jakarta and West Jakarta. Meanwhile, there was sporadic
rainfall in North and East Jakarta.

Rusli, however, said the water level at all flood gates had
not increased significantly on Saturday, perhaps because there
was no rain in higher areas like Depok and Bogor.