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Floods hit Jakarta, thousands evacuated

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JAKARTA Thousands of residents in the Indonesian capital have been evacuated because of flooding, Jakarta's governor said yesterday.

The torrential rain also caused landslides in areas around Jakarta, with at least two people dead and eight missing after two landslides near Bogor, police said.

TV footage yesterday showed people wading through murky water in some neighbourhoods .

Governor Anies Baswedan said about 6,500 people have been displaced by floods in parts of south and east Jakarta.

"We are making sure those evacuees receive aid," Mr Baswedan said, adding that flood waters had receded at the Manggarai floodgates in the city.

A day earlier, TV footage showed rivers of muddy water gushing down roads, bringing down trees and even some villas in the hilly areas around Jakarta.

The authorities were forced to release water from a reservoir upstream in Bogor as water levels prompted the highest alert.

Police and military personnel have been working with volunteers to help those affected.

City authorities have in the last few years sought to improve Jakarta's defences against flooding during the rainy season.

More than 50 people died in one of the city's deadliest floods in 2007, and five years ago much of the centre of the city was inundated after canals overflowed.

- REUTERS

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