Indonesia’s disaster agency yesterday warned of more deaths after torrential rain pounded the Jakarta region, triggering floods and landslides that killed at least 29, leaving vast swaths of the megalopolis underwater.
Tens of thousands of residents had been evacuated to temporary shelters in the area — home to about 30 million people — with scores of houses damaged in the deadliest flooding in years after torrential rain on New Year’s Eve.
Images from across the region showed waterlogged homes and vehicles covered in muddy floodwater, while some people took to paddling in small rubber lifeboats or inner tubes to get around.
Photo: EPA-EFE
In Bekasi, on the outskirts of the city, receding waters gave way to scenes of swampy streets littered with debris and crushed vehicles lying on top of each other, with waterline marks reaching as high as the second floor of buildings.
Rescuers used inflatable boats to evacuate residents trapped in their homes, including children and elderly people.
Across the city, children took the opportunity to swim in the floodwater, while some people grabbed fishing rods.
“I saw people were fishing here so I followed them,” 28-year-old Agung Rosiadi said. “There were lots of fish before, but I don’t know why they’re all gone now.”
At least 26 people died in greater Jakarta, while three more were killed by flash floods in neighboring Lebak regency at the south end of Java island.
“We hope the toll won’t keep going up,” Indonesian Minister of Social Affairs Juliari Peter Batubara told reporters.
In Lebak, the local disaster agency said that it had confirmed three residents died and it was investigating reports that two more people perished.
Police in Lebak said that they were searching for as many as eight people who could be missing.
In greater Jakarta, an eight-year-old boy was killed in a landslide and an 82-year-old was also among the confirmed victims.
Those killed died from drowning, hypothermia and being covered by landslides, while one 16-year-old boy was electrocuted by a power line.
“The floods hit without warning,” Munarsih, who goes by one name, said from her waterlogged neighborhood on the western outskirts of the city, where dozens of local families fled to safety.
“The water came very fast and it rose quickly. We couldn’t manage to get our stuff out,” she said.
The electricity was switched off in many Jakarta districts on Wednesday to prevent more electrocutions, with some railway lines and one of the city’s airports also shut.
The disaster marked Jakarta’s worst flooding since 2013, when dozens were killed after the city was inundated by monsoon rains.
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