Deadly flash floods in Indonesia’s capital leave thousands homeless
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Flash floods killed at least 30 people and left tens of thousands homeless in this capital city, authorities said Thursday after the city’s most intense period of rainfall since record keeping began more than 20 years ago.
On Tuesday, parts of the city recorded more than a foot of rain, according to the country’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency. The rain persisted Wednesday, and more was predicted this week for the metro area, one of Asia’s largest urban districts and home to more than 30 million people.
At least 35,500 people had been displaced by Thursday, according to the National Disaster Management Agency, as teams of emergency workers sought to clear flooded streets and repair downed power lines.
More than 100 rescue workers from the country’s emergency relief agency and several military units had been deployed in the capital, said Budi Purnama, the operations director of National Search and Rescue Agency.
Budi said the rescue workers were struggling in city streets that had been turned into rushing rivers.
“The water discharge is very fast; the current is so strong that it even pushes parked vehicles,” he said.
When Baby Hanna Siregar, a marketer who lives in Jakarta, went to sleep at her brother’s home at 3 a.m. Wednesday, everything “was still OK,” she said. But just three hours later, her “brother’s car was already one-third submerged.”
By Thursday, she said, she and her family were trapped. “Since then, we are not able to go anywhere,” she said. “I don’t know how much longer we are going to be stranded here.”
About 40 percent of Jakarta lies below sea level, and authorities have tried for years to alleviate flooding. Ordinary rains can swamp neighborhoods, as illegally dug wells and climate change have caused the city to sink faster than any other big city in the world.
As a result, officials said last year that they would relocate the capital to East Kalimantan province.