FLOODS RETURN TO JAKARTA ON SUNDAY

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Jan 19 (Antara) - As predicted by the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), floods returned to the Capital City Jakarta on Sunday with waters inundating many road sections and cut off traffic.         Sunday's floods followed those on Saturday which were caused by heavy rains on Friday night and by flood waters sent down from upstream areas in Bogor and Puncak mountainous areas in West Java.         The BMKG has predicted that the floods will return to Jakarta on Sunday as Saturday night heavy rains would again pour the capital city.  "The rain intensity tonight, based on the weather forecast, will be the same as last night," BMKG Chief Mulyono Prabowo stated here on Saturday.         The expected heavy rains will fall in Central and South Jakarta, the BMKG chief pointed out, saying the weather forecast also predicted medium to heavy rains in the coming days. "After that, the rain will slow and is forecast to end early in March," he said.          Incessant rains pouring Jakarta since Saturday until early hours on Sunday created floods and cut off the traffic in several sections of roads in Jakarta.          The Traffic Management Center (TMC) of the Jakarta Metropolitan Police said on its twitter account on Sunday that the road sections flooded by waters were, among others, Jalan Letjen Suprapto and Jalan Yos Sudarso. The flood waters in the two roads were about 40 to 50 cm deep.          The authorities temporarily closed the lower lane of the Kamal Toll road at Km 24 (to and from Soekarno-Hatta airport), redirecting the traffic to the elevated lane of the toll road.          A 70cm deep water also flooded the Halim Toll road at km 00.200 toward the Tanjung Priok direction.          Northern parts of the capital city, such as Kapuk Muara, Kampung Bandan, Teluk Gong and Kramat Koja were also reported to be flooded with waters reaching 40-60 cm deep.          Jalan Tipar Timur in West Semper was swamped with flood waters at a height of about 90 cm.            Flood waters also inundated Jalan Gunung Sahari in front of the WTC in Mangga Dua (40-60 cm) and the road in front of the Lotte Mart shopping center in Boulevard Barat (50 cm).          The roads in front of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and Jalan Rasuna Said were also flooded.          The TMC also reported a flood in Jalan Daan Mogot which was 80 cm deep, particularly around the suspended bridge toward the Tangerang direction. The road in front of Tanjung Duren Police Precinct was also flooded with water up to 50 cm.          The railway tracks in Tanah Abang Railway Station were still inundated by flood waters which had hit them since Saturday.          Since Saturday,  the  commuter line trains serving passengers for Jakarta and its satellite towns of Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi (Jabodetabek) through the Tanah Abang Railway Station remain closed due to floods.          "The rail tracks are still submerged five centimetres deep. The water began to flood the rail tracks when heavy rains fell last night," Agus Komaruddin, the chief spokesman of the Indonesian railway company PT KAI, said on Saturday.          He added that the water peaked at the Tanah Abang Railway Stations at 6 am on Saturday, with flood waters reaching 10 cm deep on rail tracks.          As a result, commuter line train services for the Parung Panjang or Serpong to Tanah Abang were disrupted. Trains operated as far as the Palmerah Station.          Virtually, floods have cut off traffic in several roads since Friday. Torrential rains fell on Jakarta in the past several days, sending flood waters through the capital city and causing a number of roads in Jakarta to be cut off on Friday and Saturday. The floods were worsened by the overflowing of the Ciliwung River at the Manggarai Sluice.          The water gauge at the Manggarai Sluice reported that the water surface had risen to 950 cm, requiring the declaration of the alert I level.          Waters also inundated roads in Jalan Rasuna Said and Jalan Sudirman, rising to a depth of about 5cm to 10cm.          Sunday's floods that cut off several sections of road followed the floods on Saturday. The Jakarta Police Traffic Management Center  reported on Saturday that waters had inundated parts of Jalan Mangga Besar, West Jakarta, as well as in front of Gading apartment, and Jalan Terusan Gusti Ngurah Rai in East Jakarta. Parts of Jalan Layur Rawamangung, Matraman and Jalan KRT Radjiman in East Jakarta, and Jalan Cikini in Central Jakarta, were also submerged.          In the meantime, the regional disaster mitigation agency reported that seven people had died due to flooding in the capital city Jakarta in the past few days.          "Until now, the number of deaths has been seven. The causes vary from illnesses, falls or drowning to electrocution," the BPBD's head of information and control sector, Bambang Surya Putra, said on Saturday.          In view of this, he called on all residents affected by flood waters to be careful and to immediately evacuate themselves to safer places. "We hope there will no more deaths because of the floods, now currently affecting the city. People affected by them must immediately move to evacuation centers. They must not stay at home for the sake of their own safety," he said.      According to the National Disaster Mitigation Board (BNPB), floods that hit several parts of Jakarta in the past two days forced 10,530 people to evacuate to higher grounds until Saturday.          "The 10,530 evacuees are being sheltered in 97 different locations," BNPB Chairman Syamsul Maarif said at a press conference here on Saturday.     .    The evacuees included 5,514 in East Jakarta, 371 in South Jakarta, 3,948 in West Jakarta, and 687 in North Jakarta. No residents in Central Jakarta have been evacuated.          The flood evacuees were sheltered at 31 locations in East Jakarta, 18 in South Jakarta,  39 sites in West Jakarta and nine in North Jakarta.          The flood waters in East Jakarta rose from 20-200 cm, Central Jakarta 5-100 cm, West Jakarta 10-150 cm and North Jakarta 5-90 cm.         It was also reported on Saturday that the   rains in Jakarta on Friday caused 267 RTs (neighborhoods), 172 RWs (groups of RTs) in 48 villages of 27 subdistricts in Jakarta to flood.          However, the Jakarta floods this month were not as worse as those in the same period last year.          "Last year's floods were worse than the floods in Jakarta now. On January 15, 2013, the water level at the Manggarai Water Sluice reached 1,020 cm, while now it has only reached 960cm," Head of the Data Information Center of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.          Thus, water volumes this year were still far below those of last year, the BNPB official asserted. The same happened in upstream areas where last year the water level at Katulampa Water Sluice was recorded at 210 cm, the alert I level.          "Now, the water level at the Katulampa water gate has only reached 110cm, or is at the alert III level," Sutopo pointed out.          He explained that his office had earlier taken anticipatory steps to be prepared for rising flood waters.  "We have conducted a drill on emergency handling, refugee evacuation, logistics for refugees, gathering tools and other needed equipment. What remains to be done now is to perform what we have planned," Sutop added.***3*** (T.A014/S012) (T.A014/A/A. Abdussalam/Suharto) 19-01-2014 10: