JAKARTA, Jan 3, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Indonesian rescuers mounted a desperate
search Friday for those missing after flash floods and landslides sparked by
torrential rains killed at least 43 people across the Jakarta region, leaving
whole districts under water and thousands homeless.
Around a dozen people were still unaccounted for after record rains that
started on New Year’s Eve pounded the capital and left swathes of the
megalopolis, home to some 30 million, a wasteland of overturned cars and
damaged buildings.
Some 400,000 residents have been evacuated to temporary shelters with many
unable to return to their waterlogged homes, according to authorities.
“We’re encouraging people whose houses are still inundated to go to a safer
place,” said National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Agus Wibowo.
The agency said 43 people had been confirmed dead in Greater Jakarta and
neighbouring Lebak regency in the south of Java island.
Waters had receded in many areas and power, which had been shut off across
many districts, was being restored.
In hard-hit Bekasi, on the outskirts of the city, swampy streets were
littered with debris and crushed cars lying on top of each other — with
waterline marks reaching as high as buildings’ second floors.
The government said Friday it would start cloud seeding to the west of the
capital — inducing rain using chemicals sprayed from planes — to prevent
approaching rainfall from pounding the region.
Using inflatable boats to evacuate residents trapped in their homes,
including children and seniors, rescuers said they were targeting the
hardest-hit areas of the city on Friday.
“We’re focusing our search on 11 locations still inundated today so we can
evacuate more people,” said Yusuf Latif, spokesman for the National Search
and Rescue agency.
Around Jakarta, an eight-year-old boy killed in a landslide and an 82-year-
old pensioner were among the confirmed victims.
Others died from drowning or hypothermia, while one 16-year-old boy was
electrocuted by a power line.
Most services have been restored although some commuter train lines were
still suspended Friday.
Jakarta is regularly hit by floods during the rainy season, which started
in late November.
But this week’s disaster marked Jakarta’s worst flooding since 2013 when
dozens were killed after the city was inundated by monsoon rains.
“This year’s flooding was phenomenally bad because of the extremely high
rainfall,” said Yayat Supriatna, a Jakarta-based urban planning expert.
But Jakarta’s myriad infrastructure problems, including poor drainage and
rampant overdevelopment, worsened the situation, he added.
“Yes, the weather conditions were terrible, but this was exacerbated by
awful urban planning,” Supriatna said.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo has announced a plan to move the country’s
capital to Borneo island to take pressure off Jakarta, which suffers from
some of the world’s worst traffic jams and is fast sinking due to excessive
groundwater extraction.