Consequently, several villagers sought refuge in safer places. The floodwaters also inundated several road sections and paddy fields in the sub-districts of Telukjambe Barat, Cilamaya Wetan, Banyusari, Purwasari, Cikampek, and Jatisari, he remarked.
The floodwaters rose to heights of between 30 centimeters and around a meter, Wahyu remarked, adding that local residents were urged to remain alert, as their neighborhood areas could likely receive heavy, incessant rains until this weekend.
The downpours in the Karawang areas over these past few days had also triggered the Cibeet and Cilamaya rivers to overflow and inundate the settlement areas near the riverbanks.
Concurrently, the height of Citarung River's water level had also increased owing to the downpours, he stated.
Heavy and incessant rains lashed several parts of the provinces of West Java, Jakarta, and Banten over the past two days, resulting in flash floods that inundated various areas in the capital city in its greater areas, including Bekasi.
As a result, operations at the Halim Perdanakusuma Airport were temporarily shut down on Wednesday, as its runway got flooded. All flight activities were diverted to the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Cengkareng, Banten Province.
According to Director General of Air Transportation of the Transportation Ministry Polana Banguningsih Pramesti, Halim Perdanakusuma was closed on safety grounds.
The floodwaters, reached up to 30 centimeters, on the runway. Access to the airport was also blocked by the floodwaters that had submerged areas outside the airport, Pramesti remarked on Wednesday.
The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) noted that the floods, inundating several areas in Jakarta, Bekasi, Depok, Bogor City, Bogor District, Tangerang City, and South Tangerang District, had claimed the lives of 16 people.
Eight of them were Jakarta's residents -- M Ali (82), Siti Hawa (72), Willi Surahman, Sutarmi (73), Agus (19), Sanusi, Arfiqo Alif (16), and Yuda Irawan (29). Among them were those who died of drowning and electric shock. (INE).
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Translator: M.Ali K, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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