Indonesia: North Jakarta, Thousand Islands inundated with tidal floods

The Jakarta Post 5 Dec 17;

Thousand Islands and North Jakarta were inundated by rising sea levels on Tuesday.

Cleaning workers under the authority of the Public Facility Maintenance Agency (PPSU) in Penjaringan, North Jakarta tried to hold off the seawater using sandbags as residential areas became inundated.

Penjaringan sub-district head Depika Romadi said sea levels had increased due to the rainy season while the construction of the sea-dike was yet to be completed.

“The sea-dike is still under construction, leaving a gap of 50 meters, so seawater can inundate the area,” Romadi said, as quoted by kompas.com. Reportedly, the flood waters reached 90 centimeters but recede to 10 centimeters.

OK OCE Mart in Muara Angke, Penjaringan was also inundated. The mart coordinator Sugiyanto said the mart had not been impacted by seawater flooding since it was officially opened in June.

“We tried to use sandbags to keep the water out [of the mart],” Sugiyanto said.

Besides OK OCE mart, water also inundated the parking lot of Muara Angke low-cost apartment, the local firefighters station and the police office.

In Thousand Islands regency, at least three islands were inundated following a tidal surge on Tuesday morning. Untung Jawa, Tidung and Lancang islands were inundated by some 20 to 50 centimeters of water.

“It is rare that [the islands] become inundated,” said Tidung Island resident, Anwar. (wnd)