Residents told to brace for floods
Damar Harsanto and Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Bogor
The city administration has warned residents to remain vigilant for floods amid heavy rain in Jakarta since Monday evening.
"We advise residents to evacuate to the nearest temporary shelter should the water inundating their homes not recede within three to six hours," the secretary of the flood and disaster task force, Soebagio, said at City Hall on Tuesday.
Soebagio said at least seven of 78 flood-prone subdistricts in the capital were experiencing flooding as of Tuesday.
These subdistricts were identified as Jatipulo in West Jakarta (40 centimeters of water), Duren Sawit in East Jakarta (30 centimeters), and Pela Mampang (five centimeters), Bangka (10 to 30 centimeters), Mampang Prapatan (10 centimeters), Ulujami (10 centimeters) and Bintaro (20 centimeters), all in South Jakarta.
"The inundation in those areas is due to heavy rain in the city combined with high tides, making it difficult for rainwater to drain quickly," he said.
The situation is likely to worsen with water flowing in from the upstream areas in Bogor, West Jakarta.
An employee at the Katulampa floodgate in Bogor said on Tuesday afternoon the water level was at 130 centimeters, much higher than the 10 centimeters on normal days.
The water levels at eight of 10 floodgates across the city were above normal on Tuesday.
Soebagio said the city administration had instructed the five mayors and officials at the subdistrict level to prepare for possible flooding.
The administration said it had set up 186 flood command posts in 186 subdistricts and 38 districts in flood-prone areas in the city.
"We have also prepared 78 temporary shelters in mosques, sports stadiums and open spaces. Most of the shelters are equipped with kitchens, health posts, toilets and a clean water supply," he said.
The Meteorology and Geophysics Bureau said earlier the rainy season in the city would peak in January and February.
Heavy rain on Tuesday led to traffic jams throughout the city, as motorists attempted to navigate flooded roads.
Many motorcyclists took shelter under overpasses and bridges, clogging up the road and aggravating the traffic woes.
Flooding has become an annual occurrence in the city during the wet season, with 40 percent of Jakarta below sea level and no effective drainage system in place.
The administration has long planned to build a canal to control five of the 13 rivers flowing through eastern Jakarta to help stop the flooding. However, construction of the canal has been held up by land acquisition problems.
The only canal the city has is the West Flood Canal, which was built by the Dutch to ease flooding in western parts of the city. Most segments of the canal, however, have become more narrow and shallow because of the thousands of squatters occupying both sides of the canal.
The city suffered the worst flooding in recent memory in 2002, when floods paralyzed two-thirds of the capital, killing 31 people and forcing 300,000 residents to leave their homes for temporary shelters.