Andra Wisnu and Dian Kuswandini. The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Hundreds of residents living on the banks of Ciliwung River have been flooded, along with Santa Maria Elementary School and Hermina Hospital in Jatinegara, East Jakarta.
Rainwater draining from Bogor has overflowed the river and drowned resident's homes.
Head of a neighboring unit at Kampung Pulo, Mohammad Harris, said the annual floods had come earlier than expected and had been higher than previous years.
"Right now the floodwaters are around 2.5 meters high, which is pretty amazing, because usually the water level doesn't get this high until February," Mohammad said.
Further villages affected by the floods include Pancoran, Tebet, Kebayoran Baru and Pasar Minggu districts in South Jakarta.
Tanah Abang district in Central Jakarta has also been flooded with waters reaching one meter in depth, Mohammad said.
The manager of the capital's Crisis Center, Heru Joko Santoso, said signs of flooding had been evident since Tuesday night.
"We warned residents that flooding was imminent," said Heru.
Heavy rain has drenched the capital, exacerbated by clogged rivers, causing severe flooding, particularly along the banks of Ciliwung River, Heru said.
Floods caused by the overflow of the Ciliwung River can be initially detected from water levels at flood gates that channel the river's water flow.
Heru said water levels at the Katulampa flood gate had reached 10 centimeters above safe levels by midday on Wednesday.
Water levels at the Manggarai flood gate and the Depok flood gate respectively reached 50 centimeters and 5 centimeters above safe levels.
As a consequence, East Jakarta, Central Jakarta and East Jakarta were submerged, while North Jakarta, which has been inundated by sea water from high tides since last month, would not be flood-free for another few months, Heru said.
West Jakarta was also relatively safe from the possibility of flooding, he said.
The city administration had prepared hundreds of evacuation posts in all municipalities for flood victims.
They had arranged dinghies and had ordered officers, including 7,123 personnel of the police civil unit, to stand guard and "prepare for the worst", Heru said.
Climatologist Endro Santoso from the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) said high rainwater levels across Java Island, along with a seasonal monsoon wind phenomenon and high temperatures in the Java Sea had caused flooding in the greater Jakarta area.
"For the past three days, the Asian monsoon wind has been intensively migrating to Indonesia, carrying more moist air to the Java sea, and this led to heavy rain in Java," Endro told The Jakarta Post.
He said the Asian monsoon wind occurred when atmospheric pressure was high across the Asian continent and low across Australia, resulting in heavy rain and thunderstorms.
Hundreds of residents living on the banks of Ciliwung River have been flooded, along with Santa Maria Elementary School and Hermina Hospital in Jatinegara, East Jakarta.
Rainwater draining from Bogor has overflowed the river and drowned resident's homes.
Head of a neighboring unit at Kampung Pulo, Mohammad Harris, said the annual floods had come earlier than expected and had been higher than previous years.
"Right now the floodwaters are around 2.5 meters high, which is pretty amazing, because usually the water level doesn't get this high until February," Mohammad said.
Further villages affected by the floods include Pancoran, Tebet, Kebayoran Baru and Pasar Minggu districts in South Jakarta.
Tanah Abang district in Central Jakarta has also been flooded with waters reaching one meter in depth, Mohammad said.
The manager of the capital's Crisis Center, Heru Joko Santoso, said signs of flooding had been evident since Tuesday night.
"We warned residents that flooding was imminent," said Heru.
Heavy rain has drenched the capital, exacerbated by clogged rivers, causing severe flooding, particularly along the banks of Ciliwung River, Heru said.
Floods caused by the overflow of the Ciliwung River can be initially detected from water levels at flood gates that channel the river's water flow.
Heru said water levels at the Katulampa flood gate had reached 10 centimeters above safe levels by midday on Wednesday.
Water levels at the Manggarai flood gate and the Depok flood gate respectively reached 50 centimeters and 5 centimeters above safe levels.
As a consequence, East Jakarta, Central Jakarta and East Jakarta were submerged, while North Jakarta, which has been inundated by sea water from high tides since last month, would not be flood-free for another few months, Heru said.
West Jakarta was also relatively safe from the possibility of flooding, he said.
The city administration had prepared hundreds of evacuation posts in all municipalities for flood victims.
They had arranged dinghies and had ordered officers, including 7,123 personnel of the police civil unit, to stand guard and "prepare for the worst", Heru said.
Climatologist Endro Santoso from the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) said high rainwater levels across Java Island, along with a seasonal monsoon wind phenomenon and high temperatures in the Java Sea had caused flooding in the greater Jakarta area.
"For the past three days, the Asian monsoon wind has been intensively migrating to Indonesia, carrying more moist air to the Java sea, and this led to heavy rain in Java," Endro told The Jakarta Post.
He said the Asian monsoon wind occurred when atmospheric pressure was high across the Asian continent and low across Australia, resulting in heavy rain and thunderstorms.