Jakarta – Several areas in Greater Jakarta, including Cipinang Melayu in East Jakarta and Bekasi in West Java were inundated on Sunday afternoon, causing hundreds of residents to flee to higher ground.
As many as 138 residents took shelter at the Cipinang Melayu sub-district office after the Sunter reservoir overflowed at around 2 p.m., as reported by kompas.com. One of the evacuees, Kartika, said the water in her house had reached 70 centimeters deep.
Separately, four residential areas in Bekasi, including Pondok Ungu Permai and Pondok Hijau Permai, were flooded on Sunday afternoon with the water reaching up to 1 meter in depth.
Bekasi Disaster Mitigation Agency's (BPBD) secretary Asep Haryanto said the agency had sent tents to Pondok Hijau Permai, where the worst flooding had occurred."The water level there is up to a depth of 1 meter and many residents have fled their homes," Asep said Sunday.
He also claimed that a bad drainage system had contributed to the flooding. The agency, he added, had deployed eight inflatable boats and hundreds of personnel to evacuate the affected residents. (vny/dmr)