JACARTA – Heavy flooding in several areas of the Indonesian capital forced more than 1,000 people to flee their homes on Saturday, with the country’s weather agency warning that conditions are likely to continue next week.
About 1,380 Jakarta residents were evacuated from the southern and eastern parts of the city – where 10 million people live – after the floods reached 1.8 meters in height in some areas, said Sabdo Kurnianto, acting chief of the disaster mitigation agency. Jakarta in a statement. He said there was no record of casualties.
People posted photos on social media of residents walking in muddy waters reaching their shoulders, cars almost completely submerged and search teams evacuating elderly residents in rubber boats at the height of the monsoon season.
“Two hundred neighborhoods have been affected, according to the latest data,” Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan told local television early Saturday, adding that more than two dozen evacuation centers have been set up across the city.
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The floods occur at a time when Indonesia is already struggling with the largest number of cases and deaths of Covid-19 in Southeast Asia and an economic recession.
Indonesia’s meteorological agency (BMKG) warned that the heavy rain of the season could fall on the capital’s densely populated capital in the coming days, with extreme weather conditions, including heavy rain, thunder and strong winds, expected over the next week.
“These are critical times that we need to be aware of,” said Dwikorita Karnawati, head of BMKG.
“Jakarta and its surroundings are still at the peak of the rainy season, which is expected to continue until late February or early March.”
BMKG said Jakarta will be on alert for the next four days, with data from the weather agency showing heavy rains in the past 24 hours.