jakarta inundated 1 - the water strikes back!

It took me an hour more than the regular 30 minutes to reach my office today. Jakarta is pretty much submerged.. There are pools of water everywhere, even on the highway. Floods are also everywhere, mostly in residential area. A friend of mine couldn't get out of her house, simply because it was blocked by traffic jams.

The rain started last night at around 9 PM and continued to around 2 AM. Thunder and lightnings were also there with the water. I guess it's worse than the huge flood that completely knocked down Jakarta back in 2002. Indonesia's Climate Office (Badan Meteorologi dan Geofisika) predicted that every five years or so, there's a cycle of heavy rain that may cause heavy flood. The last cycle was 2002, so I guess 2007 is the beginning of another cycle.

I happen to live in Kemang, it's pretty much a watershed area of Krukut River and several other smaller rivers. Every year there are always some flood pocket areas in Kemang, but the main road was never really affected. This year it was an exception. Water went up to almost a meter is some parts of the main road.

Most recent update would be: Telkomsel network (I don't know about other GSM mobile network) is pretty much down. Can't receive any calls or send text message out.. The rain seems to stop at the moment, but clouds still block the sun rays.