Rawabuaya residents stay put in flooded homes

Rawabuaya residents stay put in flooded homes

Bambang Nurbianto
The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Suparmanto and his wife refuse to seek refuge in government
shelters, even though knee-height water has inundated their home
in Rawabuaya subdistrict, Cengkareng, West Jakarta, since
Wednesday.

"I will not leave my house as long as the water hasn't
submerged our bed. I don't want thieves to break into our house
while we're staying at the shelters. But I'm always alert for any
eventuality," the 45-year-old told The Jakarta Post on Saturday
inside his 50-square-meter house.

Having lived in the neighborhood since the late 1980s, the
family decided to ignore the warning from the administration to
immediately leave the subdistrict, one of the city's flood-prone
areas.

Suparmanto and his neighbors were prepared for the annual
flooding: They elevated the feet of the bed up to one meter high.

Flooding in Rawabuaya subdistrict is caused by the overflowing
of the Mookervart River and Cengkareng Drain.

But Suparmanto said the current flood was not as serious as
the one in early 2002 when all residents there were forced to
flee.

"At that time, the water reached the ceiling. We took refuge
in Cengkareng market, around one kilometer from here," said the
father of two who is from Ngawi, East Java.

Less than 20 families from the neighborhood occupied the
shelters prepared by the subdistrict administration, most of whom
have small children. Several other residents stayed at relatives'
houses, according to Suparmanto.

Another resident, Ulfah, 41, stayed in the inundated house
with her two children -- an elementary school student and a
senior high school student. "We slept on the tables," she said.

Governor Sutiyoso had issued warnings for the residents to
leave their houses as soon as the flood mitigation task force
announced an emergency situation in a bid to ease the evacuation.

Many residents in other parts of the city opted to stay on the
second floor of their houses, and were trapped there when the
water rose.

Around 20,000 people across the city were evacuated after
their houses were inundated by water, following three days of
torrential rain in the city and the upper water catchments of
Puncak, Bogor and Depok.

Several areas in East Jakarta like Kampung Melayu, Cipinang
Muara, and Cililitan as well areas in South Jakarta like
Manggarai, Tebet and Cawang, were affected most by this year's
rain. The water reached up to three meter high in Cililitan
Kecil.

The Meteorology and Geophysics Agency estimated that heavy
rains would take place through to late February.

"We have no worries ... we know how to save ourselves. The
water level rose slowly here ... there is still time to
evacuate," Ulfah added.