Major floods in Jakarta, several areas submerged
Floods in Indonesia
Indonesia's capital Jakarta is once again submerged underwater after heavy rainfall. The bustling metropolitan city which is home to more than 10 million has received a month's worth of rain in just 24 hours.
Thousands of homes and building have been inundated due to the floods with even the presidential palace being hit with rains. The floods fury has paralysed the city's transport network as well.
Flood water has reached as high as 5 feet in some places.
"We checked on a submerged location and it's quite bad. The height reached almost half the height of houses and some people we have evacuated. We also provide food assistance for those who still choose to survive and thank god the process went smoothly," Bekasi police chief Wijanarko said.
The city had witnessed a major flood last month in which at least 66 people were killed.
This time the situation is about to get worse with the country's weather department predicting rain for the next two weeks.
Jakarta has been sinking at one of the fastest rates in the world. Scientists say that by 2050 parts of the megacity will be entirely submerged.
In fact, over the last 10 years, the city has sunk by around eight feet. Jakarta is notorious for its growing congestion and inadequate ground water recharge is only adding to the worries.
Moreover, it sits on swampy land with the Java sea lapping against it and it has almost 13 rivers running through it, so frequent flooding does not come as a surprise..
Officials say millions of dollars have been spent on dealing with the threat with Jakarta being on the brink of a disaster.