Antara 9 Feb 15;
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Incessant rainfall since Sunday has left the city of Jakarta flooded, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said.
"The municipalities of central, north and west Jakarta have been hit the worst by the floods," spokesman for the BNPB, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, stated here on Monday.
Water at the Karet sluice gate had reached a height of 630 centimeters at noon, which means it had reached the highest emergency alert status level I.
Among the places affected by the floods in Central Jakarta were the Tanah Abang Railway Station, Jati Baru, and Petamburan; Jati Pinggir, JPO antara Roxy, and Latumenten were inundated in West Jakarta; and in North Jakarta, Teluk Gong, Kapuk, and Muara Angke were hit by floodwaters.
"The level of water at a number of sluice gates of rivers has increased. At the Katulampa sluice gate, it reached 80 centimeters (alert status level III) at noon; at the Manggarai sluice gate, it was 800 centimeters (alert III) at 11 a.m. and 825 centimeter (siaga III) at noon," he informed.
The sluice gate in Pasar Ikan reached 208 centimeters (alert II), and at the Pluit sluice gate, water level rose by 30 centimeters.
Given these conditions, the floods could spread further, Nugroho pointed out, warning those living along the Ciliwung river basin area to stay alert for flash floods.
"The floods in Jakarta were not caused by overflowing rivers, but were a result of a poor drainage system and land spatial planning," he explained.
Furthermore, Governor of Jakarta Basuki Tjahaja Purnama alias Ahok suspected that the flooding in the capital city was an act of sabotage.
"This morning, I woke up at 2 a.m. because of the rain. When I checked the CCTV camera footage, I found that the one in Istiqlal was off. I suspected that the palace was flooded and that it could be an act of sabotage or a deliberate action. All waterways were functioning well, so flooding should have been impossible," Ahok noted in his office, which was also inundated, on Monday.
Incessant downpours have triggered floods in at least 49 locations in Jakarta, according to the Jakarta Disaster Mitigation Office (BPBD).
"The heavy rainfall that began Sunday evening and continued till this morning has inundated 49 locations throughout Jakarta," Bambang Suryaputra of the BPBD confirmed here on Monday.
Of the 49 flood-affected locations, 22 are in Central Jakarta. These include Jalan MH Thamrin, Cempaka Baru, Ahmad Yani, Kwitang Raya,Majapahit, Budi Kemuliaan, Percetakan Negara, Jalan Cempaka Putih Tengah, and Senen Raya, among several other places.
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Jakarta: A Metropolis Underwater, and Under Siege
Jakarta Globe 9 Feb 15;
Jakarta. Heavy rain across the Greater Jakarta area, which started late on Sunday and lasted well into Monday afternoon, have inundated at least 2,600 homes across the capital, causing blackouts and massive traffic gridlock all day long.
Murky waters reaching 50 centimeters deep rushed into homes across Central, North and West Jakarta, but the Jakarta Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) had not at the time of writing ordered any evacuations, said BPBD spokesman Bambang Surya Putra.
The agency has instead erected makeshift levees to prevent more water from entering homes and buildings.
Heavy showers battered Jakarta as well as the hilly areas of Bogor where the capital’s rivers originate, sending greater volumes of water downstream and into the city.
West Jakarta suffered the most severe cases of flooding, with both the Ciliwung and Krukut rivers overflowing.
The Karet flood gate, where the two rivers meet, struggled to contain the heavy influx of water, prompting officials to raise the area’s emergency alert status to 1, it’s highest level.
Officials were forced to ease water levels, which reached a peak of 6.3 meters, causing flooding in the West Jakarta wards of Petamburan, Jelambar, Pluit, Duri Pulo, Tomang, Cideng and Grogol.
Meanwhile, National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho assured officials continued to monitor the 12 flood gates located in and around Jakarta.
“If these conditions continue, flooding will spread. Water levels upstream will continue to rise, causing areas downstream to be inundated,” he said.
The floods brought Jakarta traffic to a standstill, with commuters complaining of roads to work and schools being completely inaccessible.
City Hall in Central Jakarta was not spared from rising water levels that cut off access to the area, while two of the capital’s main roads — Sudirman and Thamrin — were submerged in up to 40 centimeters of rainwater.
No transport
Public transportation received a severe blow, with the TransJakarta busway ceasing operations of at least four of its corridors on Monday morning.
Service for Corridor II, which connects Pulo Gadung, East Jakarta, with Harmoni in Central Jakarta, was brought to a halt due to severe flooding in Cempaka Putih, Central Jakarta, where roads submerged in up to 1 meter of water were inaccessible to all modes of transport.
Corridor VIII connecting Lebak Bulus, South Jakarta, and Harmoni, ceased operations due to high water levels in Kedoya West Jakarta.
Meanwhile, Corridors X (from Cililitan, East Jakarta, to Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta) and XI (connecting Pluit with Tanjung Priok) were halted due to flooding in Sunter, North Jakarta.
The Jakarta Police’s traffic division counted 52 flooded roads as of noon, across the city.
“We received reports of 16 [flooded] areas in Central Jakarta, 11 in North Jakarta, 10 in West Jakarta, nine in South Jakarta, and six in East Jakarta,” said Adj. Sr. Comr. Budiyanto of the Jakarta Police.
Train services were also disrupted as train stations in Tanah Abang and Kota struggled to keep persistent flood waters at bay. KRL commuter trains from Jakarta’s satellite cities Bogor and Depok could go no further than Manggarai station in South Jakarta.
Apologizing for the unforeseen circumstances, spokesperson for state-owned train company KAI Commuter Jabodetabek, Eva Chairunisa, advised commuters to find other modes of transportation as it was too dangerous for trains to pass flooded areas.
As a precautionary measure, state utility firm Perusahaan Listrik Negera shut down its power grid in several areas of North, West and Central Jakarta.
“PLN will restore the electricity supply when our installations and those of our customers are dry and ready,” spokesman Mambang Hertadi told a press conference in Jakarta.
Mambang added that the company had cut off the flow of electricity at more than 400 substations — in Marunda and Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta; Cikupa, Kebon Jeruk, Cengkareng and Teluk Naga in West Jakarta; and Cempaka Putih — as the substations were flooded.
“We will clean up these substations and check them first,” the spokesman added. “For our customers, please make sure that all electronic appliances and installations are no longer wet.”
The satellite city of Bekasi saw water levels reaching 50 centimeters in some areas, also causing gridlock and flooding to pour into homes.
“People have had to cancel their daily activities — work, school — to take care of their houses and protect them from floods,” said Adi, a Bekasi resident.
Elusive solutions
Since the start of the year, flooding in the Greater Jakarta area, or Jabodetabek, has forced nearly 20,000 people from their homes due to heavy rains, according to data from the BNPB.
Experts have for years urged the Jakarta Administration to fix the capital’s failing infrastructure, including its drainage system, while revamping the city’s canals.
As the rainy season peaks, flash floods increase in both frequency and severity, causing destruction of property, disrupting schools and forcing more and more people to evacuate their homes, said Nirwono Yoga, an urban planning expert for Trisakti University in West Jakarta.
This severely underscores the city’s infrastructure shortcomings, he added.
Due to the poor construction of Jakarta’s riverbanks, urban planners say major failures in the system are leading to further damage and disasters, he said.
Nirwono worries about the future of the capital’s buildings with most rainwater going straight into Jakarta’s drainage system rather than into the ground.
“The government should move towards an eco-drainage system, allowing water to soak into the ground as soon as possible, instead of lining the city’s riverbanks with concrete. The government should think more towards the future,” he said.
Drastic and immediate improvements are needed in the capital’s drainage system, only 33 percent of which are still functional, he said.
The urban planning expert also called for the normalization of rivers, which is still ongoing along South Jakarta’s Pesanggrahan River and the Ciliwung River.
But Nirwono particularly underlined the development of more green spaces to act as water catchment areas.
Less than 10 percent of the capital’s land area consists of parks or open spaces, while sustainable urban planning requires a city to consist of at least 30 percent of green space, he added.
It’s only just begun, Jakarta’s residents warned
Dewanti A. Wardhani and Sita W. Dewi, The Jakarta Post 10 Feb 15;
Greater Jakarta residents are expected to be cautious for the next few days, as heavy rainfall was forecasted to continue after downpours all through the night triggered floods across the capital on Monday.
Floodwaters with depths of 50 centimeters inundated several areas, including thoroughfares such as Jl. MH Thamrin, Sarinah, Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat and Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara in Central Jakarta, causing major traffic congestion.
The Jakarta Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) reported that at noon there had been 107 places inundated, mostly in West and Central Jakarta. Many families were forced to leave their flooded houses.
Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) spokesperson Harry Tirto said heavy rainfall was expected to continue in Greater Jakarta for the next one or two days.
“The rain on Monday was only the beginning of this month’s high rainfall. Residents in Greater Jakarta should expect similar conditions for the next one to two days. We are entering the peak of the rainy season,” Harry told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
The floods also affected Commuter Line and Transjakarta bus routes, some of which halted operations or were redirected. The Tanah Abang railway station in Central Jakarta was closed as the railway tracks were inundated.
Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama also pointed out that the rising sea level off the capital’s north coast was a factor that had triggered severe flooding. “Furthermore, many of our pumps need to be repaired in order to work faster and better.”
The capacity of the city’s 44 reservoirs, he said, could not cope with the increasing volume of water caused by rising sea levels and incessant rain.
Commenting on floodwaters inundating the State Palace on Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara, Ahok said it should not have happened as all nearby water pumps and reservoirs were working.
“The Pluit [Reservoir] and Manggarai [water channel] are working just fine so it’s bizarre that the State Palace is flooded,” he said.
The country’s flagship museum, the National Museum, has also been flooded for the first time in its history, according to Intan Mardiana, the museum director.
“Floodwater entered parts of the building this morning but we quickly resolved the issue by turning on three water pumps, which managed to drain the floodwater from the museum relatively quickly,” Intan said.
Floodwater started to enter parts of the museum as heavy rain hit the capital city on Monday morning. “The floodwater was up to the ankles.” It appeared that the drainage system surrounding the museum could no longer accommodate the excess rain water,” said Intan.
The floodwaters inundating the museum began to recede at 1 p.m. “Today’s flood was the first ever in the history of the National Museum. We have never experienced such an event before,” said Intan.
While most areas were affected by the floodwaters, Jatinegara district in East Jakarta, which was known as a flood-prone area, was unusually free of floodwater.
Joice Layla Andres, a resident of Bidara Cina, Jatinegara, said her home and neighborhood were free of floods despite heavy rainfall in Jakarta. “We are only flooded when it rains in Bogor. So heavy rains in Jakarta are not likely to affect my area,” she said.
In nearby Tangerang regency, 12 out of 29 districts also suffered from flooding.
