The 2013 Jakarta flood was a flood in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

, the capital of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

, which, in addition to areas in downtown Jakarta, also affected several other areas surrounding the city, such as

West Java West Java (, ) is an Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten and the country's capital region of Jakarta to t ...

and

Banten Banten (, , Pegon alphabet, Pegon: بنتن) is the westernmost Provinces of Indonesia, province on the island of Java, Indonesia. Its capital city is Serang and its largest city is Tangerang. The province borders West Java and the Special Capi ...

History

Severe floods have been reported to have hit Jakarta 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. Flooding can become severe if heavy rain happens 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 Bogor City (), or Bogor (, ), is a landlocked city in the West Java, Indonesia. Located around south of the national capital of Jakarta, Bogor is the 6th largest city in the Jakarta metropolitan area and the 14th overall nationwide.

is flowing down into the Jakarta area.

Duration

The flood in 2013 began on Tuesday, 15 January 2013, in some parts of the city as a result of heavy rain 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 Jakarta's

West Flood Canal The Jakarta Flood Canal () refers to two canals that divert floods from rivers around Jakarta instead of going through the city. This first flood control channel was designed by Hendrik van Breen, an engineer working for the Dutch East Indies, Dut ...

dike in

Menteng Menteng is a district () in the administrative city of Central Jakarta, Indonesia. Menteng is surrounded by the districts of Senen and Matraman to the east, Tebet and Setiabudi to the south, Tanah Abang to the west, and Gambir to the north. ...

collapsed. This breach quickly caused flooding in nearby areas. A temporary retaining wall was constructed until workers finished rebuilding a section of a

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface ...

dike. The clearing of the land above

has been identified as a major contributor to Jakarta's water table and flooding issues. Jakarta has a very bad sewage system due to the disposing of trash in roads and sidewalks. There were 47 deaths reported.

Transport

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. Flooding was reported at the presidential palace, forcing the postponement of a meeting between President

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (born 9 September 1949), commonly referred to as SBY, is an Indonesian politician and retired Indonesian Army, army general who served as the sixth president of Indonesia from 2004 to 2014 and the second president of Ind ...

and his visiting Argentine counterpart, Cristina Fernandez.

Death toll

There were 47 deaths reported.

Evacuations

Evacuations were carried out in parts of Jakarta. An estimated 20,000 people were evacuated on 17 January 2013.

Nationwide flooding

Other parts of Indonesia, from

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

Sulawesi Sulawesi ( ), also known as Celebes ( ), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the List of islands by area, world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Min ...

, have also seen seasonal flooding, though it is most acute in the capital city, Jakarta. Five died in Sulawesi, while another 4 died in

Semarang Semarang (Javanese script, Javanese: , ''Kutha Semarang'') is the capital and largest city of Central Java province in Indonesia. It was a major port during the Netherlands, Dutch Dutch East Indies, colonial era, and is still an important regio ...

by flood electrocution.

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta is the capital city of the Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by Hamengkubuwono, a monarchy, Yogyakarta is regarded as an importan ...

is on high alert for

lahar A lahar (, from ) is a violent type of mudflow or debris flow composed of a slurry of Pyroclastic rock, pyroclastic material, rocky debris and water. The material flows down from a volcano, typically along a valley, river valley. Lahars are o ...

s, as some 70 million cubic meters of volcanic material still cling to the slopes of

Mount Merapi Mount Merapi (, ) is an active stratovolcano located on the border between the province of Central Java and the Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. It is the most active volcano in Indonesia and has erupted regularly since 1548. It is loc ...

, and heavy rains could trigger an avalanche.Electrocution kills 4 in flooded Semarang , The Jakarta Post
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References

{{Reflist, 2 2013 disasters in Indonesia Floods in Jakarta Jakarta flood January 2013 in Asia 2010s in Jakarta