Severe flooding across several parts of the Indonesian capital Jakarta forced more than 1,000 people to flee their homes on Saturday, with the country’s meteorology agency warning that the conditions were set to continue for the next week.
Some 1,380 Jakarta residents were evacuated from southern and eastern parts of the city, home to 10 million people after floodwaters reached a height of 1.8 metres (six feet) in some areas, said Sabdo Kurnianto, the acting head of Jakarta’s National Board for Disaster Management (BNPD), in a statement. He said no casualties had been reported.
The floods come at a time when Indonesia is already grappling with the highest caseload and death tally from COVID-19 in Southeast Asia as well as an economic recession.
Indonesia’s meteorology agency (BMKG) has said the heaviest rain of the season may fall in and around the densely populated capital in the coming days, with extreme weather, including heavy rain, thunder and strong winds, expected throughout next week.
The BMKG said Jakarta would be on alert for the next four days, with data from the meteorology agency showing intense rainfall in the past 24 hours with the area of Pasar Minggu, in Jakarta’s south, recording 226 millimetres (8.9 inches) of rain since Friday.
