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)