Jakarta Flooded
Friday, 02 February, 2007 | 14:05 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: Heavy rains pouring down on almost all of Jakarta has resulted in flooding in many parts of the capital city.

In areas around the Pesanggrahan River, South Jakarta and Cipinang, East Jakarta, the flood depths reached between one and 1.5 meters.

However, according to the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG), the rainy season has not yet reached its peak.

"There is a probability of heavy rain up until the end of February," said Kukuh Ribudiyanto, a member of BMG's Public Meteorology Information staff, yesterday (1/2).

Therefore, there could be more flooding in the capital city again.

In the center of Jakarta, yesterday the State Palace was flooded and streets around the State Palace were impassable from 3pm to 4pm.

Jalan Medan Merdeka Utara, Medan Merdeka Barat and Medan Merdeka Timur were flooded by between 20 and 30 centimeters.

There was worse flooding in Jakarta's suburbs.

The Kebayoran Lama-Ciledug road was cut off for a few hours.

The Pesanggrahan River overflowed on to streets 200 meters away.

Some drivers who were determined to go through the floods were then trapped.

In Tangerang, floods hit a number of villages, in particular in Karang Tengah.

Alidia, Head of Data and Information Section of the Darmaga Climatology Station, Bogor, said that the amount of rainfall in Jakarta and the surrounding areas would continue to rise sharply between January 29 and February 5.

M MOSES | DEFFAN P | AYU C | SORTA T | RUDY P