JAKARTA: Tens of thousands of people were evacuated in Indonesia\u2019s capital Jakarta on Thursday after flash floods and landslides in the area killed up to 21 people, with more heavy rain forecast, authorities said.
\nThe flooding, among the deadliest in years, caused chaos in parts of Southeast Asia\u2019s biggest city with train lines blocked and power outages in some areas. Swathes of Jakarta and nearby towns were inundated after heavy rain fell on December 31 and into the early hours of New Year\u2019s Day.
\nSocial affairs ministry spokesperson said that the death toll had now reached 21, while the disaster mitigation agency said it was 19.
\nAs of Thursday, over 62,000 people were evacuated in Jakarta alone, disaster mitigation agency spokesman Agus Wibowo said, twice as many as a day earlier.<\/p>\n
Thousands of livestock were reported missing and thousands of houses damaged in neighbouring province of Banten, media reported.
\nIndonesia\u2019s President Joko Widodo told reporters on Thursday that evacuation and safety procedures should be prioritised, and called for more coordination between city administrations and the central government.<\/p>\n
On his Twitter page, Widodo blamed delays in flood control infrastructure projects for the flooding. He said some projects have been delayed since 2017 due to land acquisition problems.<\/p>\n
Some of the victims had drowned, while others were killed in landslides. Four were electrocuted, while three died of hypothermia.<\/p>\n
Indonesia\u2019s Cabinet Secretary said in a statement, citing the geophysics agency, that extreme weather may continue across Indonesia until January 7 and warned people to remain on alert for further flooding or landslides.
\nDwikorita Karnawati, head of the geophysics agency, told reporters separately that heavy rainfall may continue until mid-February.<\/p>\n
Umar Dani, 52, and his family were evacuated overnight from his home in East Jakarta on a rubber boat after water levels rose up to his neck.
\n\u201cIt has not flooded for so long here. We didn\u2019t have the chance to bring anything,\u201d he said. \u201cI have to live on the streets now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jakarta police on their Twitter account warned that a number of major streets across the capital were not yet passable.<\/p>\n
Jakarta and its surroundings are home to more than 30 million people. More than 50 people died in one of the capital\u2019s deadliest floods in 2007 and five years ago much of the center of the city was inundated after canals overflowed.<\/p>\n
The government announced last year that it is relocating the capital to East Kalimantan province on Borneo, though the planning ministry pledged that the government will invest $40 billion in modernising Jakarta.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
JAKARTA: Tens of thousands of people were evacuated in Indonesia\u2019s capital Jakarta on Thursday after flash floods and landslides in the area killed up to 21 people, with more heavy rain forecast, authorities said. The flooding, among the deadliest in years, caused chaos in parts of Southeast Asia\u2019s biggest city with train lines blocked and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":1345,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[228,800],"class_list":{"0":"post-17545","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-all-news","8":"category-community","9":"tag-flood-victims","10":"tag-government-of-zimbabwe"},"yoast_head":"\n