Floods in Qatar as almost a year's rain falls in one day

Yahoo – AFP, October 20, 2018

Motorists at the entrance to a flooded tunnel in the Qatari capital Doha after
heavy rainfall, on October 20, 2018 (AFP Photo/STRINGER)

Doha (AFP) - Qatar was hit by widespread flash flooding on Saturday as the desert state received almost a year's worth of rainfall in one day.

Roads became impassable, air traffic was disrupted and homes were flooded, while shops and universities closed.

Qatar broadcaster Al Jazeera's senior meteorologist, Steff Gaulter, tweeted that one part of the capital Doha had experienced almost a year's worth of rain on Saturday.

"Abu Hamor (a suburb) now reporting 59.8mm. (Doha average annual rainfall is 77mm.)," she wrote.

By early evening it was estimated that 61mm of rain had fallen.

Qatar Airways was forced to divert some flights, creating logistical headaches, as neighbours Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain are among states that do not allow Doha to use their airspace, due to an ongoing diplomatic rift.

Some Qatar-bound flights were forced to divert to Kuwait and Iran and the airline warned its passengers to expect further problems.

A man shields himself with a plastic bag as he walks along a flooded street in the 

Qatari capital Doha, during heavy rainfall on October 20, 2018 (AFP Photo/STRINGER)

"Due to weather conditions over Doha, flights are subject to delays for departure and arrivals," Qatar Airways said on Twitter.

Qatar's public works authority issued a warning to drivers to avoid tunnels because of the flooding.

Social media in Qatar showed cars almost completely submerged under water, after thunderstorms over Doha.

Other footage showed rainwater running downstairs inside buildings as workers desperately tried to mop up.

Qatar's National Library, not yet a year old, was forced to close and said it would remain shut on Sunday to ensure the "safety of our users".

The US embassy also said it would be closed on Sunday, "due to weather conditions".

The extent of the flooding may cause concern for the authorities who have spent billions on major infrastructure projects ahead of hosting the World Cup in 2022.

Some sought to downplay the disruption, joking online there was now no need for Saudi Arabia to dig a canal around Qatar -- an apparent threat made by Riyadh as part of the continuing political tensions -- because the flooding had done the neighbouring power's job for it.

Houston submerged as wild weather kills 20 in US, Mexico

Yahoo – AFP, 26 may 2015

Vehicles are left stranded on Interstate 45 in Houston, Texas on May 26, 2015, 

after heavy rains put the city under massive amounts of water (AFP Photo/

Aaron M. Sprecher)

Houston (AFP) - Torrential rain left large parts of Houston submerged Tuesday and trapped fans at an NBA basketball game, in savage weather that has killed nearly 20 people in the United States and Mexico.

The southern US states of Texas and Oklahoma, and northern Mexico, have borne the brunt of several days of violent weather, including tornadoes, which have left scores dead, missing and injured on both sides of the border.

More than 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain fell in just a few hours in the Texas city of Houston, triggering the worst flooding there in at least a decade and stranding at an arena a Houston Rockets player and spectators who had gone to see the basketball team Monday night.

Hundreds of vehicles, some fully under water, were abandoned on Houston's roads. Some people were trapped in their cars, others marooned in their homes, as flood waters rose menacingly up around them.

Two people died overnight in the flooding in the city, Mayor Annise Parker said, with the toll expected to rise. Both had drowned.

"I want to ask and urge people to continue to be safe and recognize that we may have more rain later today," she said, encouraging people to stay at home in America's fourth-largest city.

The southern US states of Texas and Oklahoma, and far northern Mexico, 

have borne the brunt of several days of wild weather, including tornadoes, which

 have destroyed homes, seen rivers swell to record levels and left cars 

submerged on highways (AFP Photo/Aaron M. Sprecher)

"We have cars littered all over the city," she told a press conference, adding that emergency crews were attempting to reach the abandoned vehicles to see if anyone had been trapped inside.

Downtown Houston, where the Toyota Center is located, was not under water, said Parker. But about 200 fans had been unable to get home from the NBA game for several hours after the deluge and a few settled down for the night in the arena.

At least one Rockets player, center Dwight Howard, was among those stranded into the night after learning of the treacherous road conditions.

"There's no need to try to push it," the Houston Chronicle reported him as saying.

"I don't think it's smart for anybody to try to be out in this weather."

President Barack Obama called the flooding in Texas "terrible" and said he had offered urgent assistance to state Governor Greg Abbott.

'I love you. And pray'

Fears were growing meanwhile for at least 12 people still missing in Hays County, also in Texas.

Vehicles are left stranded on Highway

 288 in Houston, Texas on May 26, 

2015, after heavy rains put the city

 under massive amounts of water 

(AFP Photo/Aaron M. Sprecher)

One person was already confirmed dead there and two more died in Oklahoma, which is located to the north of Texas.

Many of the dozen missing in Hays County were from one house that was torn from its foundations during a terrifying flash flood over the weekend.

View galleryVehicles left stranded on a flooded Interstate 45 in …

Vehicles left stranded on a flooded Interstate 45 in Houston, Texas on May 26, 2015, after heavy rai …

There were two families staying at the A-frame house in the picturesque town of Wimberley for the long Memorial Day weekend, NBC News reported. Among them were three children.

Inside was Laura McComb, who was on the phone with her sister when the house, built on stilts, broke off and was swept away.

"We are in a house that is now floating down the river," she reportedly told her sister, Julie Shields. "Call Mom and Dad. I love you. And pray."

Shields told the NBC affiliate KXAN that the phone call ended when McComb thought she saw a light from a helicopter that had come to rescue them.

She has not been heard from since Saturday night.

Baby found dead

Vehicles left stranded on a flooded Interstate 

45 in Houston, Texas on May 26, 2015,

 after heavy rains put the city under massive

 ammounts of water (AFP Photo/Aaron M. 

Sprecher)

South of the border, Mexico has also felt nature's wrath.

A savage twister roared through the border city of Ciudad Acuna at dawn Monday, killing at least 14 people and flattening hundreds of homes in a deadly six-second blast.

Among the victims of the tornado’s 270-300 kilometer-per-hour (168-186 miles) winds was a baby boy who was ripped from the grasp of his desperate parents and flung into the air.

His body was found on Tuesday after a frantic search.

The child was "catapulted by the tornado," Mayor Evaristo Lenin Perez said.

"It was horrible. It started raining in the morning. Very early, the wind came and everything started to fly around and then it all fell to the ground," Ciudad Acuna resident Juanita Perez said tearfully.

The federal government said the tornado destroyed 247 homes and damaged another 450.

PM under fire as 118,000 flee worst Malaysia floods in decades

Yahoo – AFP, Satish Cheney, 27 Dec 2014

A boy plays in floodwaters near a petrol station in Pengkalan Chepa, near

Kota Bharu on December 26, 2014 (AFP Photo)

Malaysia's worst flooding in decades forced some 118,000 people to flee as premier Najib Razak came under fire after photos showed him golfing with US President Barack Obama during the storms.

At least five people have been killed by the rising waters and there appeared little respite on the way on Friday, with forecasters predicting further heavy rainfall across previously unaffected southern parts of the country.

As local media carried photographs of people wading through flood waters as deep as two metres (6.5 feet) and entire houses submerged by rising water, the government faced criticism for not declaring a state of emergency to help devastated communities.

A family ride in a boat through floodwater

 in Pengkalan Chepa, near Kota Bharu on

December 26, 2014 (AFP Photo)

Seasonal flooding hits Malaysia every year and regularly forces tens of thousands from their homes, but the latest round has forced authorities to evacuate around 118,000, mostly in the north-east, state news agency Bernama reported.

Among the dead was a man who drowned at a relief centre on Christmas eve, while a rescue boat carrying eight people including a young couple went missing after it became entrapped in a whirlpool and capsized, the news agency said.

Rising flood water has rendered several roads unusable and authorities have suspended train services in some of the worst-affected areas. Communications have also been badly hit by the storms.

Military officials told AFP that additional helicopters from Kuala Lumpur were sent Friday morning to deliver medical supplies, food and drinking water to victims of the flooding.

In a rare piece of positive news, around 100 tourists who were stranded in a remote resort in central Malaysia's Mutiara Taman Negara Resort were rescued and sent to a relief centre.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib called on rescue workers desperately trying to reach flood victims to step up their efforts to deliver food and water.

Najib himself came under fire, however, when photos emerged of the premier playing golf with Obama in Hawaii, with Malaysians questioning why he was not at home to deal with the crisis in posts on his official Facebook page.

'PM needs a break'

Critics have also charged his government with failing to respond quickly enough, with some lambasting the authorities for not declaring a state of emergency in the worst-hit regions.

"The PM needs time to take a break," Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times.

"He has been working very hard so let's be fair to him as a human being. Don't worry, I'm in charge."

Yassin also insisted the government had responded appropriately to the flooding, telling the newspaper: "We face floods every year but this is looking to be the worst the country has seen in the last 30 years."

"Unless there was a total breakdown in electricity or water supply, or if the number of evacuees rises to over hundreds of thousands, we will not declare a state of emergency."

A man waits outside his house in

floodwaters as he waits to be to evacuated

in Pengkalan Chepa, near Kota Bharu

on December 26, 2014 (AFP Photo)

Amid rising criticism, the government said Friday Najib had decided to cut short his usual year-end vacation and return to Malaysia on Saturday to oversee rescue operations.

He is expected to land in Kelantan, one of the most severely-hit states, and meet people affected by the crisis as well as discuss new measures with authorities to help flood victims.

"I am deeply concerned by the floods. I feel for the people who have lost their homes, and the families who have lost loved ones," Najib said in a statement.

"I want to see the situation for myself and be with the people."

Meanwhile, the Malaysian Meteorological Department warned of a heavy downpour over the next few days in parts of the country that have so far been spared the worst of the flooding, including the southern state of Johor, which neighbours Singapore.

Residents there have been cautioned to prepare for possible massive floods. Heavy rain on Friday morning had already resulted in over 200 being evacuated to relief centres.

Some states and districts across Malaysia have decided to cancel their New Year celebration plans as a mark of respect for flood victims.

At least five dead in South Korea flash floods

BBC  News, 26 August 2014

A bus was washed away by floods, killing one and leaving four more people missing

Related Stories

• South Korea profile

Flash floods brought on by heavy rain in southern South Korea have killed at least five people, officials say.

One person was killed and four others are missing after a bus was swept away by floods near the southern city of Changwon, Yonhap news agency reported.

In Busan, South Korea's second-largest city, four people were killed after heavy rain battered parts of the city.

Victims included two people who drowned in their car after driving through a submerged city underpass.

An engineer is also believed to be missing after checking basement power lines in a flooded building.

More rain is forecast for the south of the country, weather officials say

Monday's heavy rain also disrupted train services in Busan, and a nuclear power plant was forced to halt operations after a cooling facility became flooded, AFP news agency reported.

Weather officials said that more heavy rain was forecast.

Jakarta Business District Floods After West Flood Canal Dike Collapses

Jakarta Globe, Ronna Nirmala & Lenny Tristia Tambun, January 17, 2013

A general view showing floodwater at Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in

Central Jakarta. (EPA Photo/Bagus Indahono)

Related articles

• Editorial: All Aboard for the Sake of The Capital
• Monitor Lizard Sightings Set Off ‘Crocodile’ Alarms in Flooded Central Jakarta
• Floods Kill at Least 9 in Jakarta; PLN Cuts Power Supply
• SBY Orders National Police to Aid in Jakarta Flood Relief
• Jakarta in Emergency Status Until Jan.

Central Jakarta’s business district flooded with water on Thursday after a 30-meter-long section of the West Flood Canal dike collapsed, the Jakarta Public Works Agency said.

Jakarta officials suspect the collapse was caused by surge of water sent into the canal after the Manggarai floodgate was opened hours earlier. The dike could not withstand the force of water, which flowed into the canal at 500 cubic meters per second, Jakarta Public Works Agency head Hendri said.

Homes and roads in the Menteng area were inundated with 1.5 meters of water late Thursday morning as floodwaters covered portions of Jalan Teluk Betung and Tosari. Jalan MH Thamrin and Jalan Sudirman were also underwater by Thursday afternoon.

Train service was cancelled in the greater Jakarta area after floods destroyed 40 meters of tracks near the Tanah Abang station, KAI spokesman Mateta Rizalulhaq said.

The train company is unable to fix the damaged tracks until the dike is repaired.

“We cannot fix the railway as long as the water is still there,” Mateta said. “It can only be done after it is dry.”

Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo visited the site at Thursday afternoon and urged the Ministry of Public Works to fix the dike while emergency funding is available.

“I will call on the Ministry of Public Works to fix this,” Joko said.

As long as the dike remains damaged, the flooding will continue along Jalan Thamrin and Jalan Sudirman, Hendri said.

“If it is not fixed, the floods… will keep on getting higher,” he said.

The agency plans to construct a temporary stone wall to try to stop some of the rushing water before crews begin making permanent repairs.

Jakarta will remain under emergency status until January 27.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, second left, and Foreign Minister

 Marty Natalegawa, left, roll up their pants as they inspect the inundated

 yard of the presidential palace in Central Jakarta. (Photo courtesy of 

presidensby.info)

Related Articles:

Resources related to the 2013 Jakarta Flood

Jakarta Residents Flooded by Frustrations

Terrible traffic to last into late evening

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 10/25/2010 9:41 PM

Hectictraffic conditions in Jakarta, following three hours of heavy rains, willlikely last well into Monday evening, a Jakarta Police Traffic ManagementCenter officer says.

FirstInsp. Kasno told tempointeraktif.com that the traffic would begin to easebetween 10 and 11 p.m., considering the massive queues of vehicles headingtoward Depok, Bekasi and Tangerang.

Thepolice said the worst traffic snarls were on Jl. Thamrin and Jl. Sudirman, theSenayan traffic circle, Jl. Latuharhari, Palmerah junction, Jl. Rasuna Said,Jl. Senopati, Blok O and Dharmawangsa.

Theheavy rains caused a number of rivers in Jakarta to flood, inundating severalmajor streets and felling a number of trees, bringing rush hour traffic to astandstill.

Motorists stranded on a flooded Jalan Thamrin in Central Jakarta. Inundated streets citywide caused huge delays as a rainstorm hit at the commute hour. (JG Photo/Yudhi Sukma Wijaya)

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Ministry in talks over Lion Air accident

The Jakarta Post, Tangerang | Mon, 03/09/2009 9:21 PM  

The Transportation Ministry was discussing with the National Transportation Safety Committe (KNKT) over Boeing 737-900's skidding at the Soekarno-Hatta airport in Tangerang on Monday. 

According to state news agency Antara, the Director General of the Air Transport Herry Bhakti was leading the closed meeting that was also attended by representatives from Lion Air and officers from the airport. 

“We hold the meeting to find the causes of the accident,” head of the airport administrator office EA Silooy said. 

Previously, the KNKT's chairman Tatang Kurniadi said that the committee had categorized the skidding as an accident following structural damages of the airplane. 

“The KNKT have dispatched four investigators --- Frans Wenas, Tumenggung, Nurcahyo and Sulaiman --- to collect data and do some preliminary investigations to the location,” he said. 

The jetliner took off from Makassar of South Sulawesi at 2:30 p.m, at local time with 168 passengers on board landed in bad weather marked by heavy rain. (ewd)

Lion Air skids, 168 passengers evacuated

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 03/09/2009 7:10 PM  

A Boeing 737-900 plane of Lion Air skidded on Monday afternoon on the runway when it had landed at the Soekarno-Hatta international airport, none passengers were injured, state news agency Antara reports. 

The airport administrator Edwar Silloy said that the incident took place at 3:43 p.m, and officers were evacuating all passengers in the airport. 

The jetliner took off from Makassar of South Sulawesi at 2:30 p.m, at local time with 168 passengers on board landed in bad weather marked by heavy rain. The airport authority has closed the south runway until midnight to accelerate the evacuation process. (ewd)

Kuta's busy streets regularly awash

Indah Setiawati, The Jakarta Post, Kuta | Sat, 03/07/2009 2:31 PM  |  Bali 

After two consecutive scorching hot days earlier in the week, it was raining hard Wednesday evening and foreign tourists walking on Jl. Kartika in Kuta frowned as they saw two sections of the street were completely flooded. 

The busy street, where dozens of hotels and restaurants are located, is an alternative route, a shortcut, leading to the famous Kuta Beach in Badung regency from the nearby Ngurah Rai International Airport. 

But it was jammed with a long queue of motorists who slowly struggled to get through sections with flood water up to 60 centimeters high, one of which was located near the five-star Discovery Kartika Plaza Hotel. 

After the rainwater subsided the following day, it was clear that many drainage holes along the two sections were completely blocked by thick sand, while others were filled with all kinds of garbage. 

Suci Ari, a member of the Bali Hotel Public Relations Association and the spokeswoman of the Santika Hotel, said that this was a common sight on the street. 

"Of course it is disturbing tourists and it has been like this for a considerable time," she told The Jakarta Post on Friday. 

"The problem is no one cares because the drainage system is a public facility." 

But when it comes to guests' comfort, businesses along the street usually make the necessary efforts to solve the problem, at least on their own premises. 

Suci said the section in front of her hotel used to be swamped whenever it rained, so the management decided to make an additional hole that connected to the drainage system. 

I Wayan Sugawa, head of the Badung Highway and Water Management Agency, said he had not received any reports of flooded streets as none of his officers had monitored the area on that rainy night. 

"We will check the drainage holes on the street immediately and see what we can do," he told the Post on Thursday. 

"Usually the water cannot drain away because the holes are clogged with sand as well as litter from the street." 

He said the street was equipped with a 5-kilometer sewerage system on both sides, up to 1.5 meters in height and width, which "should be enough to stop the street from flooding." 

"Piles of garbage and sand inside the system, however, made it difficult for rainwater to drain away," Sugawa said. 

He said the agency had a program to clear materials blocking waterways in the regency but it had yet to reach Jl. Kartika as they were still working on Jl. Arjuna and Jl. Ken Dedes. 

In nearby Denpasar, seven of the 11 villages in the Sidakarya district were flooded early this year after the five-meter-wide Punggawa River broke its banks. 

The Denpasar mayor said the flood was caused by an inadequate water drainage system as well as garbage clogging up the sewers. Meanwhile, the Bali provincial administration plans to map the flood-prone areas, after disastrous floods hit the island on Jan. 11, to make the disaster management system function more effectively.

'Clogged sewerage' to blame for flooding

Agnes Winarti and Triwik Kurniasari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 01/14/2009 8:19 AM 

It now takes less than an hour of heavy downpour to turn some of Jakarta's streets into impassable waterways and to bring traffic to a grinding halt.

An official at the Jakarta Public Works Agency said Tuesday the city's clogged sewerage and waterways were the major cause of traffic in the city on Tuesday when monsoon rain brought Jakarta's roads to a virtual standstill. 

“The garbage causes both micro- and macro-drainage systems in the city to only be able to perform at 50 to 70 percent of their capacities,”  head of the agency Budi Widiantoro said. 

He clarified that micro drains were 1- to 5-meter-diameter drainage pipes, and that macro drains were the city's major rivers. 

He said because of the excess of garbage in the city's sewerage, water tended to overflow onto the streets in heavy rain. He said even without the blockages, the city's sewerage was inadequate to absorb protracted heavy rainfall. 

It has proven incapable of absorbing the monsoon rain that has pounded the city over the last two days. 

“The [city] only has the capacity to absorb a maximum of 50 millimeters of rainfall, and today there was more than 50 millimeters of rain,” Budi told The Jakarta Post. 

In Pulo Gadung, East Jakarta, 87 millimeters of rain had fallen in the last two days. The average annual rainfall for the city is 300 millimeters. 

“It only rained for a moment but the intensity was very high,” he said. 

 

 Water boom: Children watch as high tides break against an embankment in Muara Karang, North Jakarta, on Tuesday. Heavy rain and high tides inundated large parts of the city and brought traffic to a stand still. JP/J. Adiguna

 

On Tuesday morning, the heavy rainfall broke a 25-meter-long dike near Artha Gading mall and a 15-meter-long dike next to the Telkom building, both on Jl. Yos Sudarso in North Jakarta. 

“The broken dikes have been temporarily fixed using sand bags,” Budi said. 

According to the Coordination Board for Disaster Mitigation's disaster center at City Hall, Rawa Terate in Cakung, North Jakarta, was inundated with 1 meter of water Tuesday morning. 

Also, Kayu Putih area in East Jakarta was flooded in water as high as 50 centimeters, Cempaka Putih Timur in Central Jakarta took on 60 centimeters of water and Petogogan in South Jakarta was inundated with 20 centimeters. 

The heavy rain created puddles on more than 30 main streets in the city, causing lengthy traffic jams. 

As of the afternoon, water had inundated a number of main streets in the capital, according to the city police’s Traffic Management Center (TMC). 

Muara Baru in North Jakarta suffered the highest water levels with 40 centimeters, Second Brig. David of the TMC said. 

“Puddles could be found in some areas, mostly in North Jakarta, such as on Jl. Baru Ancol,  Jl. RE Martadinata, East Kelapa Gading and Teluk Gong,” David told the Post.

 

BMG warns of big floods in January

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 01/08/2009 10:36 AM  

Districts in North Jakarta -- such as Tanjung Priok, Koja and Kelapa Gading -- are likely to be hit by flooding this month, according to the city meteorology and geophysics agency's (BMG) official website, bmg.go.id. 

The head of climatology and air quality analysis at BMG, Soetamto, said sporadic rain would gradually increase and the falls would peak in late January to early February. 

"We will start analyzing the flood potential a week before late January. Currently, heavy rain clouds can be seen out to sea north of Jakarta. They will move south and hit the city in the following weeks," Soetamto told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday. 

"Based on our analysis so far, there is potential for flooding. However, we cannot predict how big the rains will be because there are so many factors that still need to be calculated." 

Soetamto said BMG would publish its official prediction on the flood potential and size as soon as they finished the analysis. 

The city administration are coordinating with BMG in relation to the flooding potential, said the head of the relocation and reconstruction unit at the Jakarta Public Order Agency, Hulman Sitorus. 

"We will use a vast amount of space on higher grounds, such as Halim Perdanakusumah airport, National Monument and Senayan Stadium, for emergency refugee camps if a major flood takes place," he told the Post. 

The agency will deploy all of its 7,000 personnel to the 78 flood-prone areas throughout the city. 

In the wee hours of Wednesday, several parts of Jakarta experienced incessant rain. 

A duty officer of the flood gate Manggarai in South Jakarta reported Wednesday that the water level was still at a safe height of 670 centimeters. 

"It is still below the normal level of 750 cm," said Dian, the duty officer, as quoted by Antara news agency. 

Dian said he received a report from Depok flood gate that as of Wednesday morning, the water had reached 85 cm, well below the normal rate of 200 cm. 

Katulampa flood gate in Bogor reached 30 cm, below the normal rate of 80 cm. (hdt)

11 Jakarta districts may be flooded in January: BMG warns

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 11/10/2008 1:28 PM  

The government's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) has warned that torrential rains will hit Jakarta in January and February next year, potentially flooding 11 districts in three municipalities around the capital. 

Endro Santoso, head of BMG's climatology and air quality information division, on Monday said heavy rains of up to 100 millimeters per day could occur during those months. 

"Some 11 districts are prone to heavy flooding during these months," he said as quoted by Antara news agency. 

These districts are Cengkareng, Grogol, Petamburan and Kalideres in West Jakarta; Kebayoran Baru, Mampang Prapatan and Pasar Minggu in South Jakarta; and Cipayung, Ciracas, Kramatjati and Makasar in East Jakarta. 

Endro said the heavy rains would begin in Jakarta in December. He also said there were possibilities of the city facing strong winds prior to the storms. 

The rainy season is expected to end in February next year in northern Jakarta and in May in the southern parts of the city. (dre)

Leaving On A Jet Plane (Don't Know When I'll be Back Again)

The Jakarta Post, Simon Pitchforth

Well Friday of last week proved to be another fun day of over-hydration in the capital. Jakarta's floods seem to be moving from a five-year cycle toward a one-year cycle, the combined result of global warming, environmental degradation and years of poor city governance.

I'm sure you all have your own fun stories to relate. Myself, I attempted a trip into the office whilst the rain was still hammering down and, despite only walking for five minutes with an umbrella, got completely soaked from head to foot, and then found out that my appointment had been canceled due to the deluge. All good fun.

I cheered up no end though when I learnt that the President was in a similar flood-induced predicament, stranded in his motorcade on the toll road, no doubt composing tracks for that difficult second album (It's Raining in My Heart, Your Love Is like a Breached Flood Barrier, Toll Road of Desire, etc. etc.).

Other Indonesian politicians seemed to fare a little better however, mainly due to being the proud owners of the latest top of the range, high ground clearance SUVs. The Jakarta Post revealed all last Saturday:

"The rest of the Cabinet's ministers arrived on time at the palace for the meeting. Among them were Transportation Minister Jusman Syafii Djamal in a Land Rover, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Adm.(ret) Widodo AS in a Lexus Cygnus, Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Aburizal Bakrie in a Toyota Alphard, State Minister for the Environment Rachmat Witoelar in a BMW X5 and Forestry Minister MS Ka'ban in a Toyota Prado."

I stopped reading at that point as the story seemed to be lurching perilously close to something you'd find in Top Gear magazine. I wonder if these legislative auto enthusiasts get any commission for road testing these vehicles in Jakarta's 660 km square paddling pool.

Certainly other motorists were less fortunate and familiar images of half-submerged, abandoned cars once again filled the local media. Recently I've been considering getting a secondhand motor car but the thought of being conned into buying one of these terminally flood damaged clunkers fills me with dread.

Jakarta's airport seemed to be the biggest victim of last week's rain however. My housemate's own personal attempts to return from a Singapore visa run should provide an ample illustration. His plane was first diverted to Palembang where he was trapped inside with the other passengers on the runway with the air-conditioning off for ages whilst the backlog of diverted flights was dealt with.

Upon eventually arriving at Soekarno-Hatta he found that heading into town was impossible and checked into an airport hotel on one of their six-hour room stay deals. He crashed out, exhausted, only to be woken up at 3 a.m. by an insistent knocking on the door.

"Six hours finished Mr, time to check out." My bleary-eyed friend's attempt to prolong his stay with his credit card proved unsuccessful and he was forced to take a motorcycle taxi ride to the nearest ATM in order to secure further funds for more time in the land of nod.

The next day it eventually took the poor lamb three-and-a-half hours to get home via the back streets of Tanggerang.

These kinds of shenanigans don't really bode well for 2008: Visit Indonesia Year.

I mean you're pretty much stuck on the starting blocks if you can't even get out of the airport. If I was some fastidious potential business investor or wealthy tourist arriving at Soekarno-Hatta after a long, luxury business class flight quaffing champagne on Cathay Pacific whilst being manicured and peeled grapes by curvaceous stewardesses, I think I'd find the whole Jakarta airport scenario a bit of a rude awakening.

Although Jakarta's airport seems to be getting cut off from the rest of the world with increasing regularity, in truth this flooding problem has been on the cards for years.

In the dry season, the drive to the airport is actually a very pleasant canter through lush verdant vegetation and green paddy fields but on both sides the toll road is always surrounded by ominous swathes of water, ready to submerge it at a moment's notice. The whole area is basically a swamp.

The city administration seems to have done nothing about it for years though.

That famous, and alas now deceased, galactic hitchhiker Douglas Adams once said that, "Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so," an epithet tailor-made for Jakarta's governors if you ask me.

Matters would certainly be helped if the city administration would finally get round to finishing the JORR (Jakarta Outer Ring Road) which would at least provide another exit route out of the airport. Work on the ring road was halted during the 1998 financial crisis and doesn't seem to have been started again since.

I learned in the paper this week that plans are afoot to elevate the airport tollway.

As I understand it though, the toll road, as it is now, is designed around an underlying "chicken's claw" system which distributes the road's weight evenly over a larger area of the bog underneath, stopping it from sinking.

Would it really be possible to build an elevated tollway on such an unstable base given that the current road is basically floating as it is? Perhaps any civil engineers out there could enlighten me on this point as I'm getting way out of my depth here.

Until then it's adieu from me for another week and if you find yourself wading through floodwaters over the next month, remember to wash your legs thoroughly afterwards.

http://metromad.blogspot.com/

--Simon Pitchforth

Flooding cuts off Situbondo-Banyuwangi route

Surabaya, East Java (ANTARA News) - A flash flood destroyed Parengekan bridge in Panarukan village, Sutibondo and cut off the Situbondo-Banyuwangi land route on late Friday.

Due to the road cut off, around 100 trucks were trapped in a congestion in the disaster`s location.

Indonesia is currently in very wet rainy season which has triggered flooding in many areas such as Jakarta, East Java, Central Java, Gorontalo, and West Sumatra.

Flooded airport access

The Jakarta Post (Editorial)

When traveling out of town, Jakartans are increasingly worried whether the main toll road to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport is flooded, especially now at the height of the rainy season.

It seems even a low-intensity rainstorm is enough to flood the city, including the airport toll road, especially when the Java Sea is seeing a high tide.

In one incident, the high tide itself was enough to send seawater across the tollway, cutting off access to the airport, without any accompanying rain.

Flooding on the Prof. Sediatmo turnpike -- the official name of the tollway to the airport -- is becoming a regular event for Jakartans.

However, even if they are stuck for hours on the toll road and miss their flights, they will not file a civil suit or even lodge a formal protest with the authorities.

The authorities -- in this case the local government, the airport authority, the toll road operator and the police -- seem to take the flooding for granted, considering it simply business as usual.

But they seem to forget that Soekarno-Hatta International Airport is not only for Jakartans. It is the main gateway to Indonesia. It is the main entrance point for tourists and businesspeople visiting the country.

Flooding on the Sediatmo toll road is bad, not only for Jakarta's economy, but also for the whole country. It is bad, especially, for Visit Indonesia Year 2008.

Imagine, thousands of tourists lured by the Visit Indonesia campaign and flying to Indonesia via Soekarno-Hatta airport, and being greeted not by flowers but by floods.

That would be a disaster for our tourism industry because word would spread that Indonesia is submerged and not worth visiting.

Word of mouth is more powerful than any advertising campaign.

Before it is too late, the authorities need to take quick and drastic measures to solve the flooding problem.

A few alternatives are available. The most drastic is to relocate the airport to higher ground. This idea has been suggested, but has yet to be seriously considered.

Another alternative is to restore the mangrove forest around the Sediatmo tollway to serve as a water catchment area.

This idea is, however, also remote because it would only open old wounds and hurt relations with the powerful businessmen behind the huge Pantai Indah Kapuk housing complex and accompanying golf course.

A more reasonable step would be to build alternative routes to the airport, including an elevated railway line.

Plans for a railway line to the airport from Manggarai are with the city administration, but, until the first stone is laid, we should not expect the railway to materialize anytime soon.

It took Vice President Jusuf Kalla's recent visit to the flooded toll road to just keep the railway plan alive. But whether this is followed up by funding and implementation remains to be seen.

Kalla also ordered toll road operator PT Jasa Marga to raise the existing Sediatmo tollway by 1.5 meters, and to add four additional lanes to the existing four lanes.

We support both efforts, especially the addition of more lanes because even when there is no flooding, the toll road is often backed up with traffic, the result of the growing number of housing complexes along the toll road.

Equally important is to build and promote alternative routes to the airport. The few alternative routes that do exist are unknown to most people, and they are generally small roads that are easily jammed, especially when it rains.

When there are spacious, paved alternative routes, more people will use them to get to the airport, reducing the burden on the Sediatmo tollway.

But alternative roads are only for those who have cars or can afford to take a taxi to the airport, which can cost more than a hundred or even two hundred thousand rupiah, a significant amount for many who take budget airlines.

Therefore, the government needs to maintain affordable and reliable public transportation to the airport.

Currently, the buses of state-owned bus company Damri provide airport service. In the future, we hope, the railway company will follow suit. Only then will the airport be accessible to everyone at anytime.