Jakarta slammed by monsoon floods, more than 1,000 forced to evacuate
- 4 years ago
JAKARTA: Severe flooding across several areas in the Indonesian capital forced more than a thousand people to flee their homes on Saturday (Feb 20), with the country’s meteorology agency warning the conditions were set to continue for the next week.
About 1,380 Jakarta residents were evacuated from southern and eastern areas of the city, home to 10 million people, after floodwaters reached up to 1.8 meters high in some areas, said Sabdo Kurnianto, the acting head of Jakarta's disaster mitigation agency in a statement. He said no casualties had been reported.
People posted photos on social media of residents wading through shoulder-high muddy waters, cars almost entirely submerged, and search teams evacuating elderly residents in rubber dinghies in the peak of the monsoon season.
"Two hundred neighbourhoods have been affected, according to the latest data," Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan told local television early on Saturday, adding that more than two dozen evacuation centres have been prepared across the city.
"The rain has stopped, but water from other areas is still affecting Jakarta. Hopefully it won’t hit the city centre and when the water recedes people can resume their activities."
Source: CNA
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