JAKARTA, Jul 9 (NNN-ANTARA) – Harmoko Hidayat, 58, spent an unexpected and exhausting Monday night, draining thick mud that had soiled nearly every room of his home in Pancoran, South Jakarta. His house was among dozens inundated after heavy rains swept across Jakarta and its surrounding areas, beginning Sunday.
“The water was, maybe, more than one metre high. I already expected flooding, but not this high. Some of my belongings are buried in mud,” he said, yesterday.
For Harmoko, the damage to his possessions was less troubling than the exhausting effort he and his wife had to put into cleaning the house, which was covered in sticky, thick flood mud.
The flooding followed high-intensity rains that pounded Jakarta and its satellite cities through Monday evening. According to the Jakarta Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), floods inundated hundreds of neighbourhoods and several major roads on Monday, with water levels in some sub-districts surpassing 20 cm.
The BPBD said, around 371 residents from five Jakarta sub-districts were forced to evacuate to designated safe shelters. Meanwhile, the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), said, as many as 9,947 people across Greater Jakarta had been affected and displaced, with a total of 2,348 houses flooded.
Before the flooding, the Indonesian Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) had issued an early warning for potential coastal flooding, between Jul 4 and Jul 13. The BMKG also forecast continued rain for the Greater Jakarta area until today.– NNN-ANTARA
