Heavy Rains, Flooding Force Over 1,300 People In Jakarta To Leave Homes - Reports

Faizan Hashmi Published February 20, 2021 | 05:50 PM

MOSCOW/BANGKOK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th February, 2021) More than 1,300 residents of the Indonesian capital were forced to leave their homes as a result of heavy rains and floods mostly affecting southern and eastern Jakarta, national media reported on Saturday.

According to the Jakarta Globe newspaper, citing Jakarta's Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency, 379 families, or a total of 1,380 people, were evacuated, as the level of water has reached between 0.4 and 1.8 meters (1.3 and 6 feet) in parts of the Indonesian capital due to heavy rains and outflows of local rivers.

A total of 193 neighborhoods � 0.6 percent of Jakarta's area � were affected by the flooding, the newspaper added.

The Indonesian capital has seen heavy rainfall since Thursday. According to the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency, the city can see its worst rainfall this season over the weekend, accompanied by lightning and strong winds.

Due to extreme weather, the electricity was cut off in more than 60.000 homes in Jakarta and surrounding areas in a bid to avoid electrocution.