See Also: The Situ Gintung Disaster: Special Coverage from the Jakarta Globe
“It sounded like thunder, and moments later all hell broke loose,” said Rachman, whose home is near the Situ Gintung reservoir, recounting the moment in the dark early hours of Friday when part of the high mound of earthen embankment at the northeastern end of the reservoir suddenly crumbled, sending water gushing down into the natural valley below.
Rachman, whose home was spared by the flash flood, said that he and other residents had been worriedly watching the bank of the reservoir as the water level was nearing the brim following recent rains in the area and in upstream regions.
“At about midnight [Friday], water levels almost reached the edge of the dike,” Rachman said.
“Residents saw that water was already leaking [from the bank] and it gradually got worse.”
A roughly 20-meter pan of the embankment finally crumbled under the pressure of the water at about 4 a.m.
The Situ Gintung dike, built by the Dutch more than 76 years ago, retained some two million cubic meters of water in the 21-hectare reservoir. Cracks had already become noticeable in the embankment there about a year ago, the local urban ward leader said.
Water gushing through the breach left the reservoir almost empty in just about 10 minutes. Rachman said he watched helplessly, and in horror, from a height as a torrent swept everything clear from its path.
The raging water swept through houses, most of them semi-permanent, and residential areas along its path before its force found a channel into the Pesanggrahan River about a kilometer away.
It destroyed hundreds of houses in three densely packed neighborhoods in Cireundeu, an urban ward in Banten Province with a population of around 30,000.
Most of the victims were caught in their sleep. An 8-year-old boy, Ferry, miraculously survived the flood and was found in his wet pajamas atop his neighbor’s roof. His mother and younger sister were found dead later, while his father and an elder brother remained missing .
Early risers were not spared. Many women had left long before dawn broke to shop at the main traditional market in Ciputat, about 2.5 kilometers away.
At about 7 a.m., one of the women returning from the market screamed hysterically as she discovered that her house was gone and her two sleeping little children missing.
“It should have been me, it should have been me,” she wailed.
Rescue teams rushing to the area were hindered by the thick sludge deposited by the water after the floods subsided, as well as piles of debris.
Dead bodies were still being found well into the afternoon, some inside houses still inundated. By late Friday at least 58 people had been found dead. Rescue and evacuation efforts were also hampered by the small and winding alleys in the slums surrounding the affected areas.
The water, flushing into the Pesanggrahan River, caused flooding as far away as the Rempoa area of South Jakarta, about four kilometers away from Situ Gintung, and cut off traffic on the Ciputat main road, inundating an important bridge there.
Temporary shelters and operational centers were set up at two private universities in the area, and most of the dead found were sent there for identification and for their families to claim. Others were sent to the Fatmawati General Hospital about 30 minutes away.
The three venues were packed with people looking for their missing relatives, checking bodies laid on the floor and covered by thin blankets or batik cloths.
Top government officials, including President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Vice President Jusuf Kalla, Coordinating Minister for People’s Welfare Aburizal Bakrie, Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto and others, all converged on the site in order to be briefed on the disaster and to issue directives.
The officials pledged to help the survivors rebuild their homes and to construct a stronger embankment. Situ Gintung acts as one of the main fresh water reservoirs for the city.
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