Storms uproot 50 trees

JAKARTA (JP): More than 50 trees in 32 locations in the city were uprooted by strong winds on Wednesday night.

An official of the city park agency said yesterday that hundreds of other trees were stripped of their branches.

The official said that 20 trees were toppled along Jl. MT Haryono in South Jakarta alone.

"Ten of these trees were inside the Air Force Headquarters complex on Jl. MT Haryono," Gunawan, head of the agency's park and green areas department, said.

Gunawan said that the main cause was strong winds which accompanied rains on Wednesday night. Moreover, most of the trees were very old.

He said that many trees along Jl. Asia Afrika, Jl. Raya Bogor, Jl. Diponegoro, Jl. Supomo, Jl. Kebon Sirih and Jl. Pondok Gede Raya were also toppled.

"We have deployed dozens of people and nine trucks to cut up and remove the trees from the streets. Hopefully, we can clean up the mess soon," he said.

Gunawan said that his office will replace the toppled trees soon with a similar type will trim those that lost their branches.

"We will make them as beautiful as they were," he said.

Gunawan said that in the future the agency will try not to plant trees with too many branches because they need trimming periodically.

Rains and flooding on Wednesday disrupted the traffic and the toppled trees made the situation worse as they blocked the roads and caused further traffic congestion.

Some areas in South Jakarta, including Jl. Jend. Sudirman and Jl. Sutoyo were submerged by water.

In Central Jakarta, water inundated Jl. Tanah Abang II, Jl. KH. Mas Mansyur, Jl. Wahid Hasyim, the Kebon Kacang housing complex, and Bendungan Hilir.

West Jakarta's Jl. Raya Tomang, Jl. Hankam, Jl. Tanjung Duren Barat IV, Jl.Kamboja and Jati Pulo and Jl. Latumeten were also flooded. (yns)