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From culverts to water pumps: What cities can learn from Surabaya in mitigating floods

The city has built more culverts and pump houses to dry out areas when water start to submerge.

Wahyoe Boediwardhana (The Jakarta Post)
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Surabaya
Fri, January 24, 2020

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From culverts to water pumps: What cities can learn from Surabaya in mitigating floods Surabaya Mayor Tri Rismaharini (center) visits a pump house and a dam in Sumberejo subdistrict in Surabaya, East Java, on Nov. 2, 2019 before rain season begins. (Kompas.com/Ghinan Salman)

H

eavy rain fell in Surabaya on Jan. 15, causing floods across East Java's provincial capital the next day. But unlike in Jakarta where it took days for the water to subside, Surabaya's floods receded within hours.

This was far better than in 2010-2011, when almost 50 percent of the city was badly affected by the floods.

Just like Jakarta, Surabaya, a port city overwhelmed with urban development and close to open waters, also used to struggle with floods.

Suparno, 54, who lives near the Darmo Park Vida market compound on Jl. Sungkono, one of the flood-prone areas in the city, recalled that just an hour of heavy rain back then was enough to submerge his motorcycle, which he parked in the market compound.

“I do not see this happening anymore in Vida. It’s safe,” he said.

The city administration has improved flood mitigation in the past decade, including by building infrastructure and setting up response teams that protect the city when it starts to get inundated.    

Surabaya Public Works Agency head Erna Purnawati said the city was continuing to strengthen its mitigation efforts, such as building waterways using underground box culverts in almost all parts of the city.

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