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Floods still deluge Tangerang four days after heavy rains
It has been four days since flooding impacted several areas in Tangerang, including the Garden City Residence Periuk housing complex, yet water levels keep increasing, much to residents’ dismay.
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An Officer rescues a flood-affected resident in Periuk Damai, Tangerang city, Banten, on Feb. 3. The flooding was caused by the collapse of an embankment in the area because of heavy rainfall since morning. (Antara/Fauzan)
Several areas across Tangerang in Banten have been inundated by floodwaters for four days and the levels keep rising.
Most of the affected areas were housing complexes, such as the Garden City Residence Periuk, with local authorities estimating that hundreds of families were affected.
Aceng, one of the affected residents, said that the floods reached a depth of 2.5 meter by Tuesday. He explained that the water level had kept increasing because of a broken embankment in Kali Ledug. Water from the river had been spilling into the housing complex ever since.
“The embankment broke on Monday, causing the water level to rise,” he said on Tuesday, as quoted by kompas.com.
On Tuesday, Aceng and his family were still taking shelter in other places. He said he wished the floodwaters would recede soon.
The Garden City Residence Periuk housing complex and other areas in Tangerang have been submerged in water since Saturday, when heavy rains poured down on the municipality. The Tangerang administration estimated that at least 300 families were affected.
Read also: Tangerang braces for extreme weather after massive flood
State-owned electricity firm PLN was forced to shut down seven electrical substations because of the flooding in Tangerang on Sunday. Due to the electricity blackout, residents could not use their water pumps to extract fresh water from the ground, causing them to lack clean water.
Tangerang Mayor Arief Wismansyah said he would summon the housing complex’s developer regarding the persisting floods. He said he would ask the developer to take responsibility, since the location for the complex was not actually suitable for construction.
“The housing complex is only located a few meters from Kali Ledug,” Arief said.
Periuk subdistrict head Sumardi said this was not the first time for the area to be inundated by floodwaters since the Garden City Residence is lower than the river. The Tangerang administration had planned to relocate the residents because of the worsening flooding over the years.
“However, residents reject the plan because they own assets at the complex,” Sumardi said. (dpk)
