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s many as 416 officers from the Jakarta Police held a flood response drill on Tuesday on the banks of the Ciliwung River, near Kampung Pulo, East Jakarta, an area subject to annual flooding.

A number of canoes, inflatable boats and wooden rafts were deployed to the riverbanks for the simulation, with hundreds of local residents watching.

Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Unggung Cahyono, who supervised the simulation, said the police would prepare 3,801 officers to respond to flooding, which according to the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), would likely to reach its peak between the end of January and early February.

'€œThe most important thing [in responding] is that the response is rapid and secures the damaged area,'€ Unggung told reporters.

He added that canoes, boats and other evacuation equipment were also tested in the drill to ensure that each functioned well.

'€œKampung Pulo is usually affected by floods earlier than other areas, so we chose to practice here,'€ he said.

An area that regularly suffers the worst flooding, Kampung Pulo, is located behind a mall on Jl. Jatinegara Barat. Most of its residents live in small alleys on land that is gradually sinking.

In a flood in November last year, the water level in Kampung Pulo reached 4 meters and affected 16,366 people.

Floods in the area are mostly caused by heavy rain in Bogor, West Java, which increases water levels, causing the Ciliwung River to overflow.

Suhendro, a Kampung Pulo resident, said the police'€™s preparation was promising and he hoped that when the floods came, the response would be '€œas good as the simulation.'€

'€œEvery year, the police say they are ready, but people [who are affected by the floods] have to wait for a while before they [the police] finally come,'€ he said.

Data from the city administration shows that more than 600 community units out of thousands across the capital are prone to flooding.

Early last year, over 89,000 people were displaced while 23 people were killed during the floods, which hit around 100 subdistricts.

In Tuesday'€™s simulation, Jakarta Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Martinus Sitompul said the police were ready to evacuate every area damaged by floods, with the focus on 170 flood-prone locations in Greater Jakarta as identified by the BMKG.

Martinus added that about 2,100 of the 3,801 police officers would be deployed from police precincts in Jakarta while the remainder would come from the Jakarta Police headquarters and the National Police.

'€œWhen the victims have to be moved to the shelters, our officers will also ensure the security of their property,'€ Martinus said.

Previously, Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono and Deputy Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat held an inspection at the city'€™s water pump houses to check the pumps were functioning and if they could be utilized optimally to draw out water from flooded areas.

At that time, Djarot said the city'€™s target was to minimize the impact of the floods as much as possible and ensured that flooding, if it appeared, would recede as soon as possible.

He also said he would approach those who lived close to flood-prone areas about the possibility of relocating permanently to low-cost apartments (rusunawa) provided by the city administration.