Floods Still Threaten
Road users line up across an inundated part of Jl. Ciledug Raya in Petukangan, South Jakarta, on Tuesday (21/2). The floods caused severe traffic jams across the city.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS – Extreme weather and rain caused areas in and around Jakarta as well as several areas in Lampung, Aceh and East Java to flood on Tuesday (21/2). Such extreme weather will go on until March. The public and the government have been told to be on alert.
In regards to the number of areas in Indonesia that have been hit by floods, the Social Affairs Ministry and the regional administrations have been asked to anticipate the situation as best they can.
At the State Palace in Jakarta, Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Puan asked the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) to quickly map out the disaster areas and be perceptive in responding to the disasters. The home minister and regional heads have also been asked to be more proactive in warning their people about the possible effects of flooding.
Map of disaster-prone areas
The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has said extreme weather will continue to occur at least until March. The map of disaster-prone areas owned by every local administration must be used to anticipate the effects of the disasters.
As of this moment, floods have hit a number of areas. Other than in Jakarta, floods have swamped Boalemo regency, Gorontalo; Karawang, West Java; Pesawaran, Lampung and Aceh Singkil, Aceh. In Pasuruan, East Java, the cliff at the Gempol-Pandaan toll road has collapsed.
Receded quickly
The rain in Jakarta caused traffic in the capital to suffer heavy congestion. Transjakarta buses were disrupted for eight hours. The KRL Commuterline also had its trips halted for up to 165 minutes. Private cars and motorbikes stuck in the traffic jam had to endure hours on flooded roads.
The sudden flood also caused the death of a local resident by the name of Novi, 31, who died of an electric shock.
According to BMKG data, the amount of rainfall that caused floods in the Jabodetabek area ranged from 21.8 mm (Parung) to 180 mm (Kemayoran). The amount of rainfall was still less than the amount that caused flooding in Jakarta in 2007, 2013 and 2014, which at the time ranged from 200 mm – 350 mm.
Flooding was found in 54 spots, consisting of 11 spots in South Jakarta, 29 in East Jakarta and 14 in North Jakarta.
Jakarta Deputy Governor Djarot Saipul Hidayat said the administration’s normalization efforts carried out had already reduced the impact of floods. “The effect of this year’s flood is less than the floods in 2002, 2007 and 2012,” Djarot said.
Jakarta Water Resources Agency (SDA) said the floods that had hit Jakarta in the past few days were fairly big, though in some areas the floods receded in just a matter of hours. The agency said that other than the normalization of rivers, it also needed to improve its performance to repair and clean drains in residential areas.
Jakarta Water Resources Agency head Teguh Hendrawan explained that for the last seven days, the rain that had fallen over Jakarta had been extreme rain. As a result, a number of areas in Jakarta have been affected and even flooded by runoff from the Ciliwung River.
However, according to Teguh, the floods will not be as high as the big floods in 2007 or 2012. “Since 2015, the workers have continued to clean the rivers and drains in Jakarta,” Teguh said.
Cause
Urban observer Nirwono Yoga said flooding in Jakarta was caused by a number of things, including the reduced number of water catchment areas and a dysfunctional drainage system. Also, the rise in the sea level on the north coast due to tides had caused tidal floods along the north coast.
The administration also needs to revitalize 44 reservoirs in Jakarta, 14 lakes and accelerate the addition of 20 reservoirs. There needs to be more open green spaces in the form of city parks, city forests and green paths.
Jakarta Chamber of Commerce and Industry deputy chairman Sarman Simanjorang estimated that 50 percent of the 50,000 shops in Jakarta were closed. The other half opened late in the morning after the water had started to recede.
“The flood in Jakarta has not disrupted logistics in Jakarta. Basically, because floods often happen in February, many business owners have already added to their stock of raw material so that it will not affect production,” said Indonesia Logistics and Forwarder Association central board chairman Yukki Nugrahawan Hanafi.
Djoko Setijowarno, a transportation observer from Soegijapranata Catholic University, said when floods struck, oftentimes logistics transportation was neglected. Because there are toll roads in Jakarta, the toll roads should be prioritized for logistics transportation. “If freight is disrupted, prices can be affected,” Djoko said.
Bogor and Tangerang
In Bogor, it is reported that fairly heavy rainfall over the last two days has caused cliffs to collapse at dozens of locations. The last slide happened to the cliff at Kalibaru River in Ciparigi, North Bogor, not far from the Pomad Bridge on the Jakarta-Bogor main road that crosses the river.
Tangerang Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) head Irman Pujahendra said agency observations showed that nine out of 13 districts had been flooded.
Flood in regions
Heavy rain has also caused a number of rivers in Lampung to overflow. At least 2,000 houses in seven regencies and cities in Lampung have been hit by floods that reached as high as 2 meters.
The areas flooded include the regencies of Pesawaran, Pringsewu, West Pesisir, Central Lampung, South Lampung, East Lampung, and the city of Bandar Lampung. Floods also swamped paddy crops that were ready for harvest.
Floods also occurred in Aceh. Hundreds of houses in three districts in Aceh Singkil were swamped because of the overflowing Lae Cinendang and Lae Soraya rivers.
Aceh Singkil Disaster Mitigation Agency head Sulaiman contacted from Banda Aceh said the flood had started to swamp residential areas on Monday (20/2) at 9:00 p.m.
Heavy rain throughout Monday night also caused floods and landslides in the city of Batu, East Java. No deaths were recorded in the incident. However, water and mud has seeped into more than 30 houses in the area.
(DEA/HLN/ARN/IRE/WIN/PIN/RTS/UTI/EDN/JOG/AIK/INA/ART/VIO/AIN/WER)
