Thousands of homes flooded in Jakarta

Jakarta is hit by flooding to some degree every year during tropical Indonesia’s months-long rainy season, with the city’s numerous riverside communities worst affected.

Widespread flooding on Tuesday after hours of torrential rain, with thousands of homes inundated, cars stranded and at least one person killed.

Images of the flooding showed major roads inundated in parts of the megacity of 10 million, people wading through deluged streets and cars in water up to their headlights.

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The disaster mitigation agency said Tuesday that more than 50 areas are flooded in Jakarta, with waters up to 1.5 meters high in East Jakarta.

The Jakarta Observatory reported 144mm of rain in the 24 hours up to 06:00GMT on Tuesday. The average for the entire month of February is 124mm.

This has resulted in thousands of homes being flooded and murky brown waters up to 1.5 metres deep in East Jakarta. Schools have been closed and many workers have been forced to stay at home.

This has resulted in thousands of homes being flooded and murky brown waters up to 1.5 metres deep in East Jakarta. Schools have been closed and many workers have been forced to stay at home.

The city, which has about 30 million people in its greater metropolitan area, says it has reduced the number of flood-prone areas since then by dredging rubbish-filled rivers and other measures.

It said the city's drains couldn't accommodate the runoff and rivers also overflowed. Local media reported that a worker for the city government died and one person drowned in Bekasi, a Jakarta satellite city.

The disaster agency said it had received more than 400 reports of floods across Jakarta.

The city suffered one of its worst seasonal inundations in recent history in January 2013. The flooding submerged a major downtown roundabout, forced tens of thousands to flee their homes and left 20 dead. 

- Adapted from AFP