T

he chances of Jakarta experiencing a major flood this year are much lower thanks to the current unusual wind and air pressure patterns in the region, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) says.

However, some flood-prone areas in the capital will still experience flooding, but not as severely as previously thought, it said.

“During the heavy rain a few days ago, flooding hit those areas again. But it was not like five years ago — the highest levels of inundation were only waist-height,” said Cecep Sanwani, a resident of Kebon Pala — a flood-prone area on the banks of the Ciliwung River in East Jakarta.

He said the area usually flooded if the water level in the Ciliwung River at three sluice gates reached a certain high level.

The three sluice gates are the Katulampa sluice gate in Bogor, the Depok sluice gate, and the Manggarai sluice gate.

“If the water level at the gates is normal, then the houses in Kebon Pala will be just fine,” said Cecep, who is also the secretary of the community unit, said.

Cecep also said that although residents were still anxious about the possibility of a major flood inundating the area, community unit officials had helped the local residents prepare for the worst.

“We have prepared dinghies, life vests and some other equipment. We have also planned where to set up emergency kitchens if conditions get worse,” he said.

Another Kebon Pala resident, Irna, said that although she did not want a 2007-scale flood to happen again, she and her family had got used to flooding as their house was frequently inundated.

“There’s nothing we can do, when the water comes, we usually just waited for it to subside,” she said.

2007 saw the worse flood in Jakarta’s history, in which about 70 percent of the city was inundated, and 57 people were killed and more than 450,000 people were displaced from their homes.

BMKG said that the rainy season would peak in mid-February. But the past few days have not seen heavy rainfall.

BMKG extreme weather division chief Kukuh Ribudiyanto said there had been some anomalies in the atmosphere that had made the wet season drier.

He said there had been some fluctuations in atmospheric pressure, including a lower than expected pressure zone in the Indian Ocean to the southwest of Sumatra and in western China and Japan that had disrupted condensation patterns in Indonesia.

“In addition, the wind pattern has also changed to the south of the equator. The wind should blow from east to west, not in the opposite direction as we are seeing now,” Kukuh said.

“That wind pattern is similar to the pattern during the dry season. Things will continue like this for the next several days.”

However, Kukuh asked residents, especially those living in flood-prone areas, to remain vigilant, as downpours would still occur in the city.

He said heavy rain would mostly take place in the southern parts of Jakarta, including Depok, Tangerang and Cibinong as these areas were water catchment zones.

“If the rain clouds were large enough, it could then move to the northern parts of Jakarta,” Kukuh said.

Besides flooding, standing water is also one of the city’s main problems during rainy season. And this year, the city administration has allocated Rp 28 billion (US$ 3.1 million) to repair drainage systems in South Jakarta and East Jakarta.

Last year, the Public Works Agency repaired a drainage systems in 106 places where standing water had formed.