Jakartans warned to be ready for huge flooding
Jakartans warned to be ready for huge flooding
JAKARTA (JP): The Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG)
warned Jakartans yesterday to prepare themselves against the
possibility of massive flooding due to the impact of the La Nina
weather phenomenon.
Agency head Sri Diharto said the flooding would likely be
caused by heavy rainfall and thunderstorms, which will accentuate
the transition from the dry to the rainy season.
He said the rainy season in Jakarta was predicted to come
earlier than usual, possibly later this month or in September.
"Normally, the rainy season starts in Jakarta around October.
I'm not saying Jakarta will be drowned by the flooding, but still
prevention is the best choice," he told The Jakarta Post.
He said there was a strong tendency that the country would
experience the La Nina phenomenon as was indicated by the
increase of the south oscillation index to 15 from 10 in late
July.
He said the tendency was shown in the decline of the
temperature in the East and Central Pacific oceans by three
degrees Celsius below the normal level of around 28 and 29
degrees Celsius.
Another sign of La Nina was the increase in the temperature
in the seas around Indonesia by between 1 and 2 degrees Celsius
above the normal level of around 26 degrees Celsius.
"The higher temperature will make clouds form more easily,"
said Diharto.
Diharto said the rain pattern in August and September would be
very high in intensity but would take place over a short time.
The intensity of the rain expected to fall in Jakarta would
exceed the normal level, said Diharto without further
elaboration.
He said the flooding would be caused by heavy rainfall in
Jakarta and spillover from intense rainfall in higher areas like
Puncak and Bogor.
"So, if several soothsayers foresee banjir bandang (massive
flooding) soon striking Jakarta and other big cities, I'd say
that their predictions were quite logical," he said.
He predicted that the intensity of the rainfall in Jakarta
would likely peak in the third week of August.
"We've seen through the satellite data that the rainfall
pattern for this week will still be about normal. The pattern
will stay the same at least until Aug. 17."
A source at the city public order office, who asked for
anonymity, said the administration had conducted preparations for
the rainy season earlier than the ordinary schedule.
He said the preparation included checking several facilities,
including dams, water gates and pumps, and an inventory of all
equipment, such as life jackets and rubber dinghies to be used in
flood rescue programs.
He said the preparations were being hindered by the limited
availability of funds. "We have Rp 500 million (US$38,500), far
less than required," he said.
The source said that advanced preparation was very important
to anticipate flooding in what is expected to be a higher number
of areas than usual.
The number of areas prone to flooding in the capital has been
increased from an estimated 108 areas last year, he said without
giving details.
"The number of flood spots will increase this year but we have
not yet finished the calculation," he said.
He said that out of the 108 flooding black spots 28 were
located in North Jakarta, 25 in South Jakarta, 22 in West
Jakarta, 19 in Central Jakarta and 14 in East Jakarta. (cst)