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Flooding once again hits parts of Greater Jakarta
Hard work: Workers reinforce the banks of the Ciliwung River that runs through the Cikini area of Central Jakarta on Wednesday
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span class="inline inline-none">Hard work: Workers reinforce the banks of the Ciliwung River that runs through the Cikini area of Central Jakarta on Wednesday. The reinforcements are part of the city’s project to mitigate flooding. (JP/Ricky Yudhistira)
Heavy rains since Tuesday have caused four major rivers that run through the Greater Jakarta area to overflow. The overflowing of the Angke, Pesanggrahan, Ciliwung and Krukut rivers inundated several neighborhoods in West and East Jakarta early on Wednesday.
According to head of information of the Jakarta Disaster Mitigation Agency, Bambang Surya Putra, at least 175 families had been forced from their flooded homes in Kampung Melayu, East Jakarta.
“We haven’t received information about evacuees in other areas as they appear to be staying put in their homes waiting for the water to recede,” he said as quoted by kompas.com. The flooding ranged in depth from 50 centimeters to almost 3 meters, he added.
The five hours of rain that fell in Bogor and Depok, south of Jakarta, increased the level of the Angke River causing it to overflow inundating over 700 homes in the Bukit Sawangan Indah (BSI) and Villa Pamulang housing complexes in Depok municipality late on Tuesday.
BSI resident Iis Kaharna said that the flooding in the neighborhood was the worst in the past five years as the water was 1.5 meters deep.
“When massive floods hit the area in 2007 the water was only waist-high,” she said as she scraped mud from the floors and the walls of her house.
Bojongsari district head Yudi Suparyadi said that the administration had worked with related parties to mitigate the impact of the flooding.
“The Army has helped us to set up kitchens at the shelters and the flood mitigation taskforce has dredged garbage from the river,” he said.
Meanwhile, head of the South Tangerang Disaster Preparedness Agency, Uci Sanusi, warned residents living along the Angke River to stay alert for possible further flooding. “The incessant, heavy rain in Bogor and Depok caused the river to overflow,” he said on Wednesday. “If the water level keeps rising the Bintaro toll road may be flooded.”
The overflowing Bekasi River inundated Pondok Gede Permai housing in Jatirasa subdistrict from 9 p.m. on Tuesday. Most houses in the neighborhood were flooded to a depth of 1 meter, according to Engkus Kustara, a team leader for the Bekasi Disaster Preparedness Agency.
However, he said, the flooding was not as devastating as that of mid January and early February in which floodwaters up to 3 meters deep inundated over 1,200 homes.
“The floods last time happened because the river embankments collapsed. The embankments have been reinforced by the government,” he said as quoted by tempo.co on Wednesday.
