Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Flood victims in Penjaringan, North Jakarta, have been worried by reports of possible tidal waves hitting their neighborhood this weekend.

"We are worried. They say the flood caused by the waves could be as high as one meter," Lilis Jumaliah, a resident of Penjaringan said here on Thursday.

She said she hoped it would not happen while the present flood had not yet totally receded.

She admitted that her neighborhood is always flooded when tidal waves come but the water level is only around 40 centimeter high and it immediately recedes and so people need not flee.

"But the flood this time was very big with the water rising up to the chest and so we have been forced to flee," she said.

Another resident, Faisal Syam, shared her statement saying that the neighborhood has been accustomed to floods coming from tidal waves but the water level caused by the flood this time was very high.

To reduce the flood water level all pumps have to be operated, he said. Pumps have so far failed to function because of the recent big floods that had paralyzed the city.

According to the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency tidal waves would reach their peak on Friday and Saturday.

The agency spokesman, Mulyono Prabowo, has said if the tidal waves happened the flood water could rise as high as one to 1.5 meter and if rain fell at the same time areas that were flooded recently would again be flooded.

(H-YH/O001)

Editor: Suryanto
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