Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – Two young men put on their goggles and start counting down before jumping out of the window of their house into their flooded garden. Then come two officials in a rubber dinghy, announcing belatedly that the area was flooded.
This is the jist of an ad by PT Sampoerna, the country's third largest cigarette producer after PT Gudang Garam and PT Djarum. While the ad is designed to sell Sampoerna cigarettes, it also vividly depicts the reality of floods that are annual occurrences in the capital.
"I moved my electronic equipment, furniture and home appliances to the second floor yesterday as I heard the warnings of heavy downpours and storms to come in the days ahead," said Yati, whose home is located only meters away from the Ciliwung River in Kampung Melayu, East Jakarta.
She was referring to the latest alert from the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) that strong winds and heavy downpours would hit Greater Jakarta this week and that flooding could result.
"Having to take precautionary measures to save our belongings before the floods come is one consequence of living along a river. It is a must. Otherwise, we would lose everything," she said, recalling the massive floods of 2002 that ruined most of her belongings and innundated her home to a depth of three meters.
Suprapto, who resides in the flood-prone area of Kedoya Utara in West Jakarta, has also moved his sofa, refrigerator and cupboards to the second floor of his house for fear of the floods.
"The floods often happen suddenly, and the water level can climb really high in a matter of minutes. We wouldn't be able to save our belongings if we didn't move them now," he said.
At least 78 areas in the city are prone to flooding, and the administration has deployed 112 water pumps in these areas in an attempt to prevent flooding.
The city administration classifies the measures taken into four categories depending on water levels at the main sluice gates. The higher the water level, the higher the rank of the officials taking charge of city agencies. Agencies playing important roles during floods include the city public works agency, public order agency and health agency. In an extreme emergency, the Jakarta governor takes command.
Recent figures show that Jakarta has at its disposal a total of 256 rubber dinghies, 244 trucks, 244 pick-up vans, four helicopters, 94 water trucks and around 40,000 personnel from city agencies to help the victims during floods.
Another problem in Jakarta is the low-lying nature of the city, with 40 percent of its land area being below sea level, making it impossible for water to drain away quickly. Worse still, 13 major rivers slowly meander their way through the city.
Jakarta's governor, Sutiyoso, has acknowledged that his administration's crisis center was not yet fully ready to cope with flooding in the city.
"We have taken lots of flood mitigation and anticipation measures, including the provision of rubber dinghies and monitoring posts, but I don't think our crisis center is sufficiently well prepared that it can function adequately during flooding," he admitted.
The BMG has forecast that the rainy season would reach its peak this month. The agency also warned that major floods could hit the city if heavy rain fell in both Jakarta and upstream area in Bogor, West Java, for three consecutive days.
The worst flood in the city's modern history took place early in 2002 when floodwaters inundated two thirds of the metropolitan area, killing at least 31 residents and forcing over 300,000 people to flee their homes for shelter. The floods also paralyzed the capital for nearly a month.