Thousands forced from homes by Jakarta flooding w/ five dead

[senorpepr]

JAKARTA (AFP) - Thousands of Jakarta residents have been forced to flee their homes by flood waters up to two metres (6.6 feet) deep that have claimed five lives, officials in the Indonesian capital and press reports said.

Jakarta flood control centre official Wagiman, who like many Indonesians only uses one name, said at least 10 neighbourhoods had been inundated, forcing at least 10,000 to seek temporary refuge in mosques or civic offices.

"Public kitchens have been readied but not yet set up. We will ask help from other agencies if the flood gets worse," he told AFP.

Koran Tempo newspaper reported that a boy aged 10 was electrocuted when he tried to lift a television above the water that poured into his house.

The evening Suara Pembaruan daily said two teens Donny and Reza, both 13, were swept away in a canal while Muhammad, 16, died while operating a small ferry. Munah, 63, died in a separate incident the paper said without giving details.

Police and officials at the Jakarta flood centre could not confirm the deaths.

Water close to one metre deep inundated hundreds of shops at a market in the Cipulir area of South Jakarta, swamping several cars and causing massive traffic jams.

A public order officer said waters reached a depth of two metres at Kampung Melayu in East Jakarta. In the north of the city, water as high as one metre flooded a posh residential area.

Flooding is a near-annual rainy season ordeal for residents in parts of the city of eight million.

The several days of rain that have fallen in Jakarta are nothing unusual for this time of year, the local weather office said.

Two years ago floods and landslides that hit several parts of Indonesia killed at least 147 people including 67 in the Jakarta region.

That disaster cut the main highway to Jakarta's international airport and inundated up to 20 percent of the city.

More than 330,000 people in the capital were left temporarily homeless amid allegations that the administration of city Governor Sutiyoso failed to put effective flood control measures in place.

The airport highway has since been reinforced with a flood wall and Sutiyoso has evicted thousands of people from riverside shanties because he alleged they contributed to flooding.

The meteorology bureau recorded 110 millimetres of rain in Jakarta on Thursday, and 150 millimetres at Depok on the southern outskirts, said Hariadi of the bureau.

"This is still close to normal," he said.

Flooding occurs in Jakarta because many districts are below sea level or alongside rivers and their tributaries, Hariadi said.

Rain will continue for a few more days but with a reduced intensity of between 50-100 millimetres daily, he said.