Arya Dipa The Jakarta Post 25 Oct 16;
The Bandung administration blames heavy rain as the main cause of a two-hour flood that swept several main roads of the city and led to one casualty.
Bandung’s Bina Marga road agency head Iskandar Zulkarnaen said extraordinary heavy rain unexpectedly flooded the riverbank beyond its maximum capacity on Monday. Thus, overflowing water from the Citepu River inundated Jl. Pasteur and Jl. Sukamulya.
"Because of the excessive heavy rain, the river is unable to contain the water," he said to reporters in Bandung as quoted by kompas.com.
Zulkarnaen further acknowledged that the poor drainage on Jl. Pasteur and dredging that yet had started of a water canal behind Bandung Trade Mall (BTC) had worsened the flood. "We actually have planned to dredge the waterway, but the heavy rain came much earlier. Thus, we will improve the waterway and station several water pumps as directed by the mayor," he said.
The flash flood reportedly took the life of Ade Sudrajat ( 30 ), after he fell into the water and was swept away while trying to assist his friend escape from flooding on Jl. Setia Budi. His body was later found in a gutter.
“His hand was stuck to a pipe,” a Bandung resident named Endang told The Jakarta Post, “This is the worst flood I have ever seen here. A previous flash flood was just as severe as this one, but lasted less than one hour.” (ags)
Bandung administration denies flood caused by burst dike
Arya Dipa The Jakarta Post 26 Oct 16;
The Bandung administration has said a fatal flood on Monday was not caused by a burst dike but by the high volume of rainwater hitting the drainage system.
The incident caused the death of one resident who was swept away by floodwater on Jl. Setia Budi.
Several parked vehicles were also carried away in the high level of water.
Roads and Water Management Agency head Iskandar Zulkarnaen said his office checked the drainage system once every two weeks but the river had overflowed and the drainage system only had the capacity to accommodate runoff from the streets.
Earlier, National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said the flood was caused by a burst dike on the Citepus River. Iskandar refuted the statement, saying that although there was a broken embankment, it was not the cause of the flood.
Bandung Mayor Ridwan Kamil said his administration would repair the drainage system by replacing ducts with bigger ones.
Flooding on several major roads including Jl. Pasteur paralyzed the city for about two hours. (evi)
Team spends 5 hours recovering car after flood in Bandung
Arya Dipa The Jakarta Post 25 Oct 16;
A team consisting of officials from the Bandung administration and officers of the West Java Police took five and a half hours to pull a car out from under a bridge after it got carried away by floodwaters on Jl. Pagarsih the previous day.
The car, a black Nissan MPV, was lifted by two hydraulic machines after it was shifted out from under the bridge connecting Jl. Pasir Koja and Jl. Astana Anyar.
Comr. Nana Sumarna said Tuesday the task was rendered more difficult because the car was filled with rocks and garbage.
Hundreds of locals crowded the site to watch the work and when the car was lifted they cheered.
The car was parked and empty when it was carried away by water on Jl. Pagarsih during the flood on Monday. A local neighborhood unit head, Ceppy Setiawan, said the flood came from the Citepus River and inundated Jl. Pagarsih for an hour. “The local rain was not heavy but the flood was from rains in the northern part of Bandung,” he said. The northern part of Bandung is higher in altitude.
The black MPV was carried about 200 meters down the street before being diverted by the water flow and plunging into the Citepus River, which is about 6 meters wide and 6 meters deep.
Another parked car and a parked motorcycle that had been modified to carry garbage were also carried away by the flood, but they did not end up in the river. (evi)
Cause of city’s recent fatal flooding a mystery: Bandung mayor
Arya Dipa The Jakarta Post 26 Oct 16;
The mayor of Bandung, Ridwan Kamil, has apologized to the public for Monday’s flash flood, which claimed one life, saying he did not understand what had triggered it.
The sudden flood hit some parts of the city in the afternoon, including Jl. Dr. Djunjunan (better known as Jl. Pasteur and Jl. Pagarsih), sweeping away several cars and killing a resident.
“We don’t really know [the cause],” Ridwan told reporters on Tuesday.
He said the city had not experienced any floods for months, but on Monday conditions arose that triggered the high water.
“As a mayor, I am responsible,” said Ridwan, who is an architect.
Although Ridwan may not understand what led to the flooding on Monday, an official with the Bandung administration said it was caused by a drainage system that was unable to accommodate the flow of incoming water, despite it having been routinely checked.
The city administration has planned to carry out more flood prevention measures and to restore water channels along 19 roads.
Bandung Highway and Water Works Agency head Iskandar Zulkarnain said routine drainage inspections on Jl. Pasteur were carried out once every two weeks.
However, water from upstream filled up the city’s drainage system, making the rainwater stay on the streets and form powerful currents.
“Thus, the flooding,” said Iskandar.
To anticipate potential flooding in the future, Iskandar said, his office would perform inspections once a week and widen the water channels along the roads.
Some streets were impassable for approximately two hours as the floods engulfed Jl. Pasteur, while the flooding on Jl. Pagarsih swept a black Nissan Grand Livina and a three-wheeled motorcycle into the Citepus River.
Members of the Bandung Disaster Mitigation and Fire Brigade and police found the car on Tuesday at around 2 p.m. local time. The car had been carried about 500 meters downstream.
The head of a local community unit, Ceppy Setiawan, said the flooding of Jl. Pagarsih lasted for an hour. Citepus River water drowned the road and then flowed swiftly along Jl. Pagarsih in Astana Anyar.
“The rain was light but the deluge came from the north,” he said.
The black Nissan had been dragged more than 200 meters along the street before being diverted by the flow of water and carried into the Citepus River. The car was at one point stuck on a bridge railing before being swallowed by the river, which was almost 6 meters wide and more than 6 meters deep.
The three-wheeled motorcycle, which was parked in front of a garbage dumpster on Jl. Pagarsih, was also swept away by the floods before drifting down the river in the wake of the Grand Livina.
A smaller red Daihatsu Charade sedan was also dragged down the street by the floodwaters, but it lodged on solid ground before being swept into the river.
Ridwan expressed concern over the flood, especially as one person was killed when he was swept away by swift currents on Jl. Dr. Setiabudi in the northern part of Bandung as he attempted to save another person. To overcome the risk of floods, Ridwan said his office was improving the condition of the water channels along 19 streets. “The biggest water channel measures two-by-two meters,” added Ridwan.
Ridwan said he had asked his subordinates to use pumps with special pipelines to move water from a swamped location to the river, creating a “water highway” to prevent uncontrolled runoff. “This effective method has been applied in the Gedebage area and on Jl. Soekarno Hatta, which are flood-prone areas, and has been able to prevent water from pooling when it rains,” said Ridwan.
