Heavy storms pound Jakarta, eight perish

Heavy storms pound Jakarta, eight perish

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Heavy rains continued to pound the city Tuesday, causing
massive floods, a landslide and severe traffic jams in almost all
parts of Jakarta.

As of Tuesday night, the huge floods had caused eight
deaths, two missing and almost 10,000 people evacuated from their
inundated houses across Greater Jakarta.

A landslide occurred in Pejaten, South Jakarta and killed
six.

In Cileduk, also in South Jakarta some 200 families were
trapped in their inundated area, where the floodwater had risen
to 250 centimeters. And as of Tuesday night they had not yet
evacuated. At least two people were reported missing in the
area.

The other areas most severely affected by the floods
included Cipulir in South Jakarta, where flood waters reached up
to 70 centimeters and up to 10 centimeters inside the Cipulir
Mall, in Cipinang, East Jakarta.

"The flood here started early Monday morning. On Tuesday
morning the water had submerged us. But then the water rose even
more and within 30 minutes reached up to 2.5 meters. As a result,
many families could not escape the flood and are trapped inside
their houses," said Mrs. Muchar, a mother of three in the Cileduk
Indah housing complex.

She said that the water current in the area was very
strong and that was why two children went missing, presumably swept away.

"We are trapped here and have almost run out of foods and
even my two-month-old-baby could no longer drink milk as we ran
out of it," said Mrs. Lubis, a mother of three children in the
area.

The flood in Cileduk was apparently caused by the
overflow of the Angke River. Every year floods in the area hit
them. So far, there were no rescue teams in sight.

In Tangerang, about 7,000 houses were inundated by the
floods in six districts, with the water level in Jatiuwung and
Periuk Jaya up to between three and five meters. Two people were
reportedly killed. The first victim, Ferry, 25, a resident of
Karang Tengah subdistrict, died in an accident of electrocution
on Monday, while Nurmailiani, 11, a resident of Gaga subdistrict
drowned in the Sipon river.

Due to the rain, traffic jams also occurred everywhere.

The Bitung tollgate was closed on Tuesday because
flooding also inundated a part of the road heading to the
tollgate, exactly under the flyover heading to Merak.

Many vehicles broke down in the flood under the flyover, causing
a seven-kilometer long traffic jam.

The traffic jams in Jakarta also terribly affect
thousands of commuters who were stranded on the street later in
the evening as they failed to find any public transportation.

Many motorists were trapped in the traffic congestion for
hours as they were stuck one the congested roads.

RI have been here for about two hours, above the Simpruk
flyover and the traffic has moved only a few hundreds meters,S a
private company employee complained.

Another motorist said that it took him two and a half
hours to get home, while usually he only needed no more than 40
minutes.

"I left The Regent in South Jakarta at 9:15 p.m. and
arrived home in Bintaro, South of Jakarta at 11:45 p.m. Traffic
jams were everywhere. I had to change direction several times in
order to avoid the congestionI Thank God, at last I am home," he
told The Jakarta Post.

Traffic jams and floods have been the problems of Jakarta
for years, but it seems that things become increasingly worse as
more development takes place in catchment areas and green belts.

According to an expert, the problem of flooding in the
capital city was worsening due to continuing violations of the
Jakarta Master Plan, which had resulted in a decrease in the
number of catchment areas.

Paulus Agus Winarso of the Geophysical and Meteorological
Agency (BMG) told The Jakarta Post here on Monday that the recent
downpours in Jakarta actually measured less than 100 millimeters,
far lower than the worst-ever level of 400 millimeters recorded
in 1996.

Heavy rains caused the flooding that paralyzed the
capital in late January 1996 in the city itself and the adjacent
areas of Bogor, Sukabumi and Depok.

"Floods in Jakarta have become a serious problem since
the 1990s as its development activities have not been in line
with its master plan," Paulus said.

Due to violations of the plan, catchment areas have been
decreasing, as they have been converted for other uses. He also
cited the transformation of dozens of greenbelts into fuel
stations and other business uses.