High Rainfall Makes Floods Inundate Jakarta in Early

2023

JAKARTA - The DKI Jakarta Badan Penanggulangan Bencana Daerah (BPBD)

recorded that 15 roads and four villages in the capital city were flooded on Sunday (1/1/2023)
afternoon. "The BPBD noted that previously 15 roads were inundated and 9 villages, now
there are 15 flooded roads and 4 villages," said Jakarta BPBD Implementing Head, Isnawa
Adji, via text message on Sunday. High-intensity rains are the cause of the puddles. Based on
DKI BPBD data, the stagnant water has submerged the North Jakarta and West Jakarta areas.
High rainfall Head of Drainage Maintenance Section for North Jakarta Water
Resources Office, Yursid Suryanegara, said that the cause of flooding in North Jakarta today
was due to 156 millimeters of rain. "This rainfall is higher than the rains that have occurred in
2022," said Yursid. In general, the cause of the flooding in North Jakarta today is because the
rivers and canals are full, causing the water to be unable to be contained, so it overflows into
residential areas. “The North Tugu area is a basin area. The water had to be thrown into the
river, but the river was full. Earlier we deployed a pump, but it took a long time to recede
because the river was full," said Yursid.
"As for the Sungai Bambu area, the drainage area is full because there are still many
former projects, such as the construction of toll roads and other private projects," he
continued. Yursid said that today the North Jakarta SDA Sub-Department deployed 25
mobile pumps to suck up puddles and floods in several points in North Jakarta. The pumps
deployed are in various sizes from small, medium, and large. The dredging of the rivers has
been carried out in several rivers, such as the Sunter River. However, the problem is that not
all rivers can be dredged because a road is large enough to bring in the equipment dredger.
Yursid said, in areas that cannot be reached with dredges, North Jakarta SDA Sub-
Department will generally deploy manual labor from river cleaners. "Today there are several
areas that the pump arrived late so it took a long time to recede. The target is that tonight all
areas have receded. At 19.00 dip make sure all areas have receded,” he said. Submerged up to
20 cm Reporting from Kompas.id, Juhaimi's house (55), a resident of RT 013 RW 009, Tugu
Utara, Koja, North Jakarta, was submerged in water as high as about 20 cm. The heavy rain
that had occurred since 03.30 only subsided at 08.30. “From 8:30 a.m. until noon, it
continued to rain, but it was not that heavy and occasionally stopped. Water started to enter
the house when the rain stopped at 08.30.
At first it was just an ankle, now it is 10 centimeters taller,” he said. Juhaimi
acknowledged that heavy rain that lasted more than four hours would cause flooding in his
warehouse. Usually he only waits one to two hours for the water to recede. However, this
time the flood dampened the warehouse longer.”Last year it never rained like this. Two years
ago the water entered the house and the ebb and flow was fast. It is now 15.30 or seven hours
since the water entered the house, the puddle has not receded," he said. The head of RT 013
RW 009 Ponco calls this a five-year flood. Five-year floods are caused by heavy rains that
last a relatively long time. Then the water flooded the residents' houses and receded for a long
time. "In RT 013 RW 009 there are 27 houses and 12 houses that were submerged because
the height is parallel to the road. Meanwhile, residents have saved valuable assets and there
have been no casualties," said Ponco. According to him, the flood this time occurred because
of the distance of 3 meters wide near RW 009 which is the place for all residents' water
disposal. As Ponco recalled, the waterway had not been dredged since five years ago. Ponco
also admitted that he had difficulty summoning the cleaning staff to enter this area. RT 013 is
located in an alley where only one motorcycle can pass.
Every year floods become a problem that must be faced by the government. Until
now, the flood epidemic is still a problem that the government has not been able to resolve.
As a society, we also have to be able to protect each other's environment, such as disposing of
trash in its place because garbage is one of the causes of flooding.