Jakarta, Indonesia – Boats ferried supplies to desperate residents of Indonesia’s flood- stricken capital Sunday as rivers burst their banks following days of rain. At least 25 people have been killed and almost 340,000 forced from their homes, officials said.
Stormwaters that inundated scores of residential areas and shopping districts late last week were still almost 10 feet deep in places today, according to Anwar Arifin, an official with Jakarta’s flood information center.
“As of today, 75 percent of Jakarta remains flooded,” he said.
Indonesia’s meteorological agency is forecasting two weeks of rain.
“Jakarta is now on the highest alert level,” said Sihar Simanjuntak, an official who monitors the many rivers that crisscross this city of 12 million people. “The floods are getting worse.”
Jakarta’s heavily criticized governor said he could not be held responsible for the worst floods to hit the city in living memory, saying they were a natural phenomenon.
“There is no point in throwing abuse around,” Gov. Sutiyoso, who, like many Indonesians, uses one name, told el-Shinta radio station. “I was up till 3 a.m. this morning trying to handle the refugees.”
Hundreds of people scrambled to the second floors of their houses to escape the rising waters. Some found themselves trapped, while others refused to leave despite warnings that the muddy floodwaters may rise further.
“We were starving for two days,” said Sri Hatyati, who was rescued from her house by soldiers on a dinghy Sunday. “All we had were dried noodles. We were unable to go anywhere.”
The government dispatched medical teams on rubber rafts into the worst-hit districts to prevent outbreaks of disease among residents without clean drinking water.
Rain that starting falling Thursday on Jakarta and the hills south of the city triggered the floods. Tens of thousands of homes, schools and hospitals were inundated.
Authorities have cut off electricity and the water supply in many districts.
