JAKARTA, Indonesia
Indonesian government said Thursday at least 30 people were killed and tens of thousands fled their homes from severe flooding and landslides that struck the capital Jakarta over the New Year.
The deaths were caused by hypothermia, drowning, electric shocks and landslides, Agus Wibowo, the spokesperson of Indonesian National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) said.
''BNPB will continue collecting data from various sources and the number of victims is likely to rise," Agus Wibowo, the agency’s spokesperson told reporters.
A total of 169 areas were reported to be inundated by floods around Indonesia as of Wednesday night, with 63 in Jakarta, 97 in West Java and 9 points in western Banten province.
The country’s Meteorology and Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) predicted that heavy rains will continue to hit Jakarta and nearby towns in the next three days.
Provincial Government of Jakarta has deployed 120,000 officers to mitigate the floods.
Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said in a press conference that temporary shelter, health facilities, medicines, medical personnel, food, drinking water are already prepared.
BMKG recorded rainfall intensity on New Year’s Eve at 377 millimeters (mm) per day, the highest since 2007 when it reached 340 mm per day.
