The 2013 Jakarta flood is a flooding of Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, and affected several other areas

surrounding the city, such as West Javaand Banten.

History[edit]
Severe flooding is reported to have hit Jakarta on numerous occasions in the past, including in 1621,
1654, 1918, 1942, 1976, 1996, 2002 and 2007. An important part of the flooding problem is caused by the
fact that a substantial part of Jakarta is low-lying. Around 24,000 ha (about 240 square km) of the main
part of Jakarta is estimated to be below sea level.[2] Flooding can become severe if heavy rains happen to
coincide with high tides. When this happens, high tides tend to push water into low-lying areas just as the
run off from rains in upland areas such as nearby Bogor is flowing down into the Jakarta area.

Duration[edit]
The flooding in 2013 began on Tuesday, 15 January 2013, in some parts of the city as a result of heavy
rains and waterways clogged with garbage and other kinds of debris.Serious flooding began along
several main thoroughfares of Jakarta.A 30-meter-long section of Jakartas West Flood Canal dike on
Jalan Johannes Latuharhary in Menteng collapsed. This breach quickly caused flooding in nearby areas.
Military personnel, the Jakarta public works agency, and public order officers joined forces to quickly
replace the collapsed dike section with a temporary retaining wall made of rocks and sandbags.Workers
finished rebuilding a section of a canal dike.[3]
The clearing of the land above Jakarta has been identified as a major contributor to Jakarta's water table
and flooding issues.[4]

Transport[edit]
The city's main airport was open but many roads leading to it were reportedly blocked. The flooding
disrupted train services from Manggarai Station in South Jakarta to Tanah Abang Station in Central
Jakarta. Most commuter trains and buses were suspended, and roads were difficult to access. [5]
Flooding was reported at the presidential palace, forcing the postponement of a meeting between
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his visiting Argentine counterpart, Cristina Fernandez.[6]

Death toll[edit]
There were 47 deaths being reported.[7]

Evacuations[edit]
Evacuations were carried out in parts of Jakarta. Up to 20.000 people was evacuated estimated in 17
January 2013[8][9]

Nationwide Flooding[edit]
Other parts of Indonesia, from Sumatra[10] to Sulawesi,[11] have also seen seasonal flooding, though it is
most acute in the capital city, Jakarta. Five died in Sulawesi, [11] while another 4 died inSemarang by flood

electrocution.[12] Yogyakarta is on high alert for lahars, as some 70 million cubic meters of volcanic
material still cling to the slopes of Mount Merapi, and heavy rains could trigger an avalanche.[12]

The BBC's Karishma Vaswani: "Roads that have turned into rivers"
Continue reading the main story

Related Stories

Indonesia country profile

At least four people have been killed by heavy flooding in the Indonesian
capital, Jakarta, say officials.
The flooding, caused by days of heavy rain, has blocked roads and forced
businesses in the capital to close.
Areas including the central business district (CBD) were inundated and traffic
was grid-locked as residents struggled to move around the city.
Some 20,000 people have abandoned their homes, as officials warn that the rain
could worsen in the next few days.
The governor of Jakarta, Joko Widodo, has declared a state of emergency.
He also said he was committed to making a "breakthrough" in efforts to tackle the
flooding.
Continue reading the main story

At the scene
Karishma VaswaniBBC News, Jakarta
Jakarta, the capital of South East Asia's largest economy, was brought to its knees today because of
rising floodwaters.
Cars and motorcycles broke down midway through their journey, as the waters inundated parts of the
capital city. Many Jakartans have been left stranded because of the lack of public transport, wading
through roads that have turned into rivers to get to their destination.
As a result many government offices and businesses have been forced to close. Some schools have told
their students to stay at home.
Jakartans are used to dealing with floods - this happens every year because of the torrential rains. But
this time, even the usually immune central business district has been affected. In low-lying areas,
residents have said waters have reached 2-3 metres high.

People here regularly complain that the government hasn't done enough to upgrade its infrastructure and
protect its citizens from what could have been an avoidable disaster.

The CBD normally escapes damage when Jakarta experiences its heavy
seasonal rains, but on Thursday, many government offices and businesses were
forced to close because staff could not get to work.
Local television pictures showed people wading through almost neck-high water
in some parts of the city, while in others, the waters were up to 2m (6.5ft) deep.
"What we need most is life rafts and a big truck to help evacuate motorbike
drivers whose engines malfunctioned because of the water," Sofia, a student, told
BBC Indonesian.
Another Jakarta resident, Wildan, urged the government to do more to stop
floods in future. "The dams are no longer sufficient to hold the water," he said.
Yayat Supriatna, an urban planning expert, told the BBC that Jakarta's drainage
system "is still the same as it was in the Dutch colonial era" and should be
rebuilt.
"The floods are caused by the failure to manage and sustain the rivers as water
reservoirs. I suggest the governor dredge the rivers because if the rivers are
deeper the better [the system] will function."
The presidential palace grounds are among areas flooded, and images showed
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono walking around the palace compound with
Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, wearing trousers rolled up above his knees.
Mr Yudhoyono told reporters: "I have no problem with the palace being flooded.
The most important thing is the people are protected."
He had instructed the national police chief and the army chief to deploy their
forces and evacuate flood victims, presidential spokesman Julian Pasha told
BBC Indonesian.
The Jakarta Post said two of the people killed in the capital were children, aged
13 and two.
Continue reading the main story

In pictures: Jakarta battles floods

State funds are available to help those affected by the flooding following the
declaration of the state of emergency, which will remain in effect until 27 January.
A Transport Ministry spokesman said air travel was not disrupted.
A spokesman for state electricity company PLN said it had cut power supplies to
a number of areas to minimise the danger of electrocutions, the Jakarta Globe
reports.
The last severe flooding in Jakarta was in 2007, when at least 40 people were
killed and hundreds of thousands forced from their homes.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is due in Jakarta on Friday to meet top
leaders and deliver a foreign policy speech.