Ronna Nirmala

Stormy Weekend Forecast Warns of Flooding in Jakarta

Planning a nice weekend outdoors? Think again.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) is forecasting tropical storms for most parts of the city with a high chance of flooding.

The agency has warned that the category 2 Tropical Cyclone Magda currently off the northwest coast of Australia is expected to cause strong winds to blow through the Bali and Java seas bringing rain and electrical storms to Jakarta and other parts of West Indonesia.

The heavy rain, expected to fall from Friday through Monday, is likely to mostly impact Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, North Jakarta, East Jakarta and Bekasi.

The BMKG has predicted that this period of the rainy season would be the wettest so far and the city should be ready for possibly more severe flooding.

North Jakarta is the most vulnerable municipality in the flood-prone capital, according to Mayor Bambang Sugiono.

“Flooding here does not just come with heavy downpours but from the upstream runoff of rain water and the monthly high tides,” Bambang said.

“Even without rain,” he said, “stagnant water — mostly left by high tides — remains on the surface across many parts of the municipality.”

The mayor said the high tides were exacerbated by the geography of North Jakarta. “Roughly 40 percent of the land in this part of the city is below sea level.”

Heavy rains and simultaneous high tides cause huge problems for the municipality’s citizens, he said .

Bamabng said he was hopeful the completion of a number of new dykes would help reduce or even eliminate the disruptions caused by the tidal cycles.

A vital three-kilometer dyke, however, is still under construction and will be of little help this wet season. “It will be finished later this year,” Bambang said.

He added that his municipality and the main Jakarta administration were prepared should severe floods hit the area.

“Armed Forces troops, city government officials and the disaster management unit are on standby,” Bambang said.

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