TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsPantura Highway inundated for four consecutive days
For years, the northern coast of Java Island has been plagued by relentless tidal flooding, driven by land subsidence, rising sea levels and coastal erosion.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Vehicles make their way along flooded streets in Semarang, Central Java, on March 13, 2024. Heavy rain and overflowing waterways in the coastal city triggered flooding of up to 1.5 meters deep and disrupted traffic on one of Java’s busiest highways. (Antara/Makna Zaezar)
S
evere coastal flooding has submerged a stretch of the Java Northern Coast (Pantura) Highway between Demak and Semarang in Central Java for four consecutive days, causing massive traffic disruption on one of the nation’s major roads.
Genuk Police chief Comr. Rismanto, speaking in Semarang, said the floodwaters reached a depth of 70 centimeters in several areas on Friday. Many vehicles were stranded along the highway after attempting to drive through the water.
“Joint teams from the police, the Indonesian military, and other relevant authorities are actively assisting residents navigating the flooded roads. We have also helped evacuate healthcare workers and patients traveling to or from hospitals along the affected routes,” he said on Friday as quoted by Antaranews.
Authorities have urged drivers to use alternative routes to avoid vehicle breakdowns and lengthening traffic jams. The flooding has caused severe congestion over the past few days, with traffic jams stretching up to 14 kilometers on Thursday night.
Slamet, a 45-year-old truck driver from Grobogan regency, said on Friday morning that he had been stuck in traffic near Tanjung Mas Port in Semarang for six hours.
“Vehicles could only move a few meters every 15 minutes because parts of the road were deeply flooded. We’ve been stuck since 2 a.m. If we turn off the engine, it might stall, but if we keep it running, the fuel runs out,” he told Kompas.com.
Another truck driver, 50-year-old Lasiman, said that coastal flooding often inundated the Pantura Highway, but this time, the water was taking longer to recede.
