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lthough flooding in the capital city is a regular occurrence every rainy season, many were caught by surprise on Thursday. The capital’s current flood emergency rivals the floods of 2007, when 50 died and 300,000 people fled their homes when the waters began to rise.

As happened six years ago, Jakarta was effectively paralyzed. Traffic came to a complete halt on Thursday, commuter trains had their journeys cut short and the entire TransJakarta system was closed down. Rain inundated school buildings, government offices and commercial areas, forcing students and employees to return home. Others could not even get out of their homes.

Even the Presidential office was not immune from the emergency. While flooding at the Merdeka Palace did not foil a bilateral meeting between President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his guest Argentinean President Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner, the disaster has placed the country’s reputation at stake. The President must be praying for the rain to stop before he welcomes Japanese Prime Minister Sinzo Abe on Firday.

Many residents of Jakarta were not prepared for such large-scale flooding due to a poor early warning system. Some who were reluctant to leave their belongings opted to wait for rescue workers to take them to temporary shelters.

However, the capital’s ordeal may not be over just yet. The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) is predicting even more heavy downpours for Greater Jakarta in the coming days.

The Jakarta city administration made the right decision by declaring a state of emergency, a move that will expedite the response to the floods. The focus must remain on helping the victims. About 50,000 people have been displaced as of Thursday afternoon. They will need shelter, food, clothing, healthcare and other daily necessities.

In a time of crisis, it is not appropriate to look for scapegoats. Neither can we blame nature for this devastation. One thing is clear, however: The people of Jakarta have contributed to the current flood emergency through their ignorance and their lack of commitment to environmental preservation.

The city, for example, has allocated less than 10 percent of its land as open space — one-third the minimum requirement stipulated by spatial planning laws.

We agree with Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo, who said the capital city needs a breakthrough to deal with the constant threat of floods, no matter how much the cost.

Jakarta needs a comprehensive solution with collaboration between the city and the central government to address this annual problem. The governor has proposed building a multi-function deep tunnel to channel floodwaters into the sea. However, what the city needs as soon as possible is the dredging of its principal rivers and the West Flood Canal to increase their capacity to accommodate rainwater.

The Indonesian Forum for the Environmental (Walhi) has estimated that the material losses from the 2007 flooding topped Rp 20 trillion (US$2 billion). Given that the worst is yet to come, this year’s disaster might cost the capital more dearly, especially in terms of the lives lost.

Enough is enough. Seasonal flooding has brought misery to many. The city and its residents cannot let the disaster strike time and time again without anticipatory efforts, as other flood-prone cities in the world have done.

For the time being, the people of Jakarta are facing yet another test of solidarity.