Tens of Thousands of Bekasi Residents Affected by Floods

Bekasi regency, West Java, has seen quite severe flooding. Tens of thousands of residents have been affected, with some evacuating.

KOMPAS/TOTOK WIJAYANTO (TOK)

Motorcyclists try to cross the flood that inundated Jalan Pantura in the Kota Baru area, Karawang, West Java, Monday (27/2/2023).

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – Moderate- to high-intensity rainfall in Greater Jakarta in the last three days has resulted in overflowing rivers and flooding in several areas. Tens of thousands of residents have been affected, with some evacuating.

Bekasi regency, West Java, has seen quite severe flooding. Based on data from the Bekasi Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), until Monday (27/2/2023) at 12:30 p.m., 14 subdistricts and 37 villages had been affected by floods.

Out of the 47,700 people who were affected, 4,092 of them were evacuated, while two people died as a result of the flooding. The Bekasi regency administration has declared a disaster emergency response for the next 14 days.

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Acting Bekasi regent Dani Ramdan said thousands of residents had been displaced by floods that hit since Feb. 24. Most of these residents sought refuge in the homes of neighbors or relatives who are safe. The administration has set up around 20 evacuation sites.

Additionally, the administration also announced a flood emergency response. “This emergency response decree is in progress. Tonight [Monday], I will sign it. Then, an inter-agency emergency response post will be established,” Dani said.

This is why we have been impacted by rains of extreme duration these past few days.

The Bekasi regency administration will also summon a number of housing developers. Upon checking, it was found that some of these developers failed to fulfill their obligations in providing flood control facilities.

According to Dani, housing requires a building permit. Furthermore, in each housing development permit, there are a number of requirements that must be met, such as the provision of flood control and a drainage system, which some developers had not fulfilled. “This is why we have been impacted by rains of extreme duration these past few days,” he said.

KOMPAS/AGUS SUSANTO

The train crossed residents' homes on the banks of the Ciliwung River in Kebon Manggis, Matraman, East Jakarta and Bidara Cina, Jatinegara, East Jakarta, Monday (27/2/2023).

Save the Cikarang River Community founder Dedi Kurniawan said that repeated floods, which inundate residents’ homes every year, show that the area is neglectful or not prepared to prevent or anticipate the impacts of development.

“All watersheds in Bekasi are in a critical condition. There is no river that can be used for flood control. Many have been used for housing,” he said.

In Jakarta, heavy rainfall caused five rivers to overflow, namely the Sunter River, Ciliwung River, Krukut River, Pesanggrahan River and Angke River. A total of 118 neighborhood units (RT) were affected by floods of depths of up to 180 centimeters.

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Efforts to control water overflow and inundation were carried out by, among others, the Jakarta Water Resources Agency through the use of 526 portable water pumps. The Jakarta BPBD also prepared 121 evacuation sites across nine locations in Central Jakarta, 14 locations in North Jakarta, 33 locations in West Jakarta, 38 locations in South Jakarta and 27 locations in East Jakarta.

Monitoring reports in Kampung Melayu village found as many as 408 families, or 1,261 residents, were affected by flooding of a depth of 50-175 centimeters. They were spread over 27 RTs and four community units (RW).

One area with the most severe flood water levels was RT 013/RW 004, with water levels reaching 175 centimeters. RT 013 head Sanusi said the water began rising on Sunday afternoon.

Some residents chose to remain in their homes, as a majority of residents in that area have two- to three-story houses.

A resident of RT 011/RW 005, Sonya (45), who was affected by the floods, secured her two motorcycles at a relative’s house.

Following the extreme weather in the last few days, the Bogor regency administration also issued an early warning for 48 villages prone to hydrometeorological disasters. (Z07).

This article was translated by Kesya Adhalia.