Floods hit Greater Jakarta, warnings of more thunderstorms issued

 

Motorists stop their vehicle at the edge of the flooded Jl. Warung Buncit Raya in South Jakarta on Feb 20, 2021. - Antara

JAKARTA (The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network): Greater Jakarta braces for more flooding after heavy downpours swept through many neighborhoods, causing massive floods and severing major thoroughfares in the past few days.

Heavy rains and flooding also hit other parts of the country, with more rain forecast across the archipelago for the rest of the week.

In several areas of the capital, Tuesday’s heavy downpour, which began in the afternoon, led to water inundating at least six major roads and 80 neighbourhood units (RT) in the capital with some areas remaining flooded until Wednesday (Oct 5) morning.

The six major roads included Jl. Pangeran Antasari and Jl. Lenteng Agung in South Jakarta, as well as Jl. Jenderal Gatot Subroto – one of the capital’s main roads that stretches between South and Central Jakarta.

Meanwhile, 60 of the 80 RT flooded on Tuesday were located in South Jakarta, with some neighbourhoods suffering as much as 170 centimeters of water.

Footage circulating on social media showed severe flooding in the Ciledug and Fatmawati areas, both located in South Jakarta.

In South Jakarta’s Kemang and Mampang Prapatan areas, heavy flooding forced authorities to mobilise hundreds of disaster mitigation agency workers, along with fire trucks and heavy-duty pumping equipment.

No casualties were reported in the incidents.

Outside of the capital, a number of cities and regencies in West Java, including Bandung, West Bandung and Cimahi, also experienced flooding.

Meanwhile, in Sintang Regency, West Kalimantan, heavy rainfall since Sunday caused the Serawai River to overflow, forcing over 5,000 residents from six flooded villages to evacuate as of Tuesday night, the BNPB said.

The flooding, which ranged from 1.5 to 2 meters in depth, submerged over 1,000 houses, seven schools and 15 public facilities.

Similarly, 580 households in two subdistricts of North Aceh regency were also flooded on Tuesday, displacing over 1,800 residents. Around 230 hectares of rice fields were submerged in the regency, putting it at risk of crop failure.

In an online statement on Wednesday, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) raised the alert status of five provinces from level 1 to level 2 – waspada (advisory) – in anticipation of more hydrometeorological disasters, including floods and flash floods, until at least Friday. These provinces are Jakarta, West Java and Banten on Java, as well as Aceh and West Kalimantan.

Separately, the BMKG announced that 10 provinces in Sumatra, all six provinces in Java as well as all five provinces in Kalimantan, along with a host of other provinces, including Bali, would likely experience thunderstorms at least until Friday.

The BNPB has issued warnings for public caution and alertness. It also urged Indonesians who lived on floodplains or close to rivers, as well as those living on cliffsides, to take precautionary measures and take shelter in safer places in the event of heavy downpours that last for more than one hour. - Star