Tropical storm Bonnie headed Jakarta's way

Meteorological experts warned that an extraordinarily large amount of precipitation and strong winds may pound Jakarta within the next three days as tropical storm Bonnie makes its way northward in the eastern Indian Ocean from an area near East Nusa Tenggara province.

Paulus Agus Winarso, a senior expert from the Geophysics and Meteorology Agency (BMG), said that Bonnie was a result of a low pressure trough in the tropical areas of Indian Ocean.

"(The low pressure trough) causes high air pressure in sub- tropical areas around the Indonesian archipelago. As we saw today, the result is lots of rain and high winds," Paulus said on Saturday.

According to Paulus, heavier downpours and stronger storms can still occur in the capital within the next three days. But he said that he could not predict how severe they would be.

He stressed that Bonnie would almost definitely bring heavy downpours, strong winds and thunder.

Paulus added that the heavy rain and strong winds had already caused some damage in East Java.

"I got information that the storm had caused damage to many houses in Kediri regency, East Java, and uprooted trees in other areas," Paulus said. --JP