Jakarta: Worst floods in 5 years
Pastor Dale Morgan
Jakarta: Worst floods in 5 years*
POSTED: 0652 GMT (1452 HKT), February 2, 2007
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- Two days of severe rains caused the worst
flooding in five years in the Indonesian capital Friday, washing into
thousands of homes and forcing residents to flee, witnesses and
officials said.
Filthy storm water inundated markets, hospitals and businesses as people
used inflatable rafts to retrieve their belongings from houses. Water
was four-meters (13-feet) deep in some places in Jakarta, home to some
12 million.
With many of the city's roads inaccessible, commuters spent several
hours in gridlock trying to get to work. Many were unable to reach the
central business district and returned home.
City officials said almost 80 districts where faced with serious
flooding with more rain forecast. Electricity was cut to more than
22,000 subscribers in downtown Jakarta and tap water was also shut off
in some areas as a safety precaution because of possible pollution.
"It has not been this bad since 2002," when the Presidential Palace in
the upscale Menteng area flooded, said Anom Nurcahyo of Jakarta's Flood
Crisis Center said "We cannot say yet if the water will get higher."
Nearly 40 centimeters (more than a foot) of rain fell overnight,
submerging inner-city slum areas close to swollen rivers as well as
middle-class housing complexes on the city's outskirts, sending
thousands to higher ground or to the second floor of their homes.
Passengers were evacuated from a train in central Jakarta after the
tracks were submerged.
"The water at my house was up to my neck," said Tina, a housekeeper who
uses a single name, who had to leave her home with three young children.
In her neighborhood, schools closed and children swam and played in the
flooded streets.
There were no reports of casualties due to the floods, a yearly
occurrence in the city during the peak of the rainy season.
A meteorologist forecast continued downpours over the city for the next
two weeks.
Seasonal downpours cause dozens of landslides and flash floods each year
in Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago of 17,000 islands, where millions
of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile plains.