The 2007 Jakarta flood was a major flood in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

, the capital of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

and affected several other areas around the city, such as

West Java West Java ( id, Jawa Barat, su, ᮏᮝ ᮊᮥᮜᮧᮔ᮪, romanized ''Jawa Kulon'') is a province of Indonesia on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten ...

and

Banten Banten ( id, Banten; Sundanese: , romanized ''Banten'') is the westernmost province on the island of Java, Indonesia. Its capital city is Serang. The province borders West Java and the Special Capital Region of Jakarta on the east, the Java Se ...

. The flood, beginning on February 2, 2007 was a result of heavy rain,

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated d ...

in areas south of the city, and waterways clogged with debris. The flood is considered the worst in the last three centuries, including the 1996 and 2002 Jakarta floods, which killed 10 and 25 people respectively. The final official death toll was 80.

Causes

Meteorological

The most significant reason of the disaster is the high rate of rain, since the

rainy season The rainy season is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. Rainy Season may also refer to: * ''Rainy Season'' (short story), a 1989 short horror story by Stephen King * "Rainy Season", a 2018 song by Monni * ''T ...

in Indonesia starts in December and ends in March. In 2007, the rain intensity reached its peak in February, with the greatest intensity towards the end of the month.

Geographical

Uncontrolled population growth in urban areas, poor land use planning, and the lack of understanding among city residents and government about floods and its disaster risk are key factors in Jakarta's situation. Eventually, water flowing into Jakarta overflows some of the city's flood control systems and causes devastation in these areas.

Impact

The flood affected 80 separate regions in and around Jakarta, and over 70,000 homes were flooded, resulting in the displacement of some 500,000 people.Jakarta Flood Disaster Relief - Progress Report
- www.standardnewswire.com - Obtained March 11, 2007. There was a high level of illness, with 1,066 patients treated by hospitals due to

diarrhea Diarrhea, also spelled diarrhoea, is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements each day. It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration due to fluid loss. Signs of dehydration often begin wi ...

and 329 due to

dengue fever Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne tropical disease caused by the dengue virus. Symptoms typically begin three to fourteen days after infection. These may include a high fever, headache, vomiting, muscle and joint pains, and a characterist ...

. The flood has caused Rp 8 trillion (US$879.12 million) in losses. Approximately 190,000 people were affected by flood related illnesses.190,000 sick after Jakarta flood
-

Herald Sun The ''Herald Sun'' is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the Murdoch owned News Corp. The ''Herald S ...

- Obtained March 11, 2007. The nature of the flood in which it extends from riverbanks to surrounding areas has caused the lower-class communities, many of which live on the riverbanks themselves in wooden houses, to take the strongest impact of the flood.

Aid

HOPE worldwide Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one's life or the world at large. As a verb, its definitions include: "expect with confidence" and "to cherish ...

distributed 5 metric ton (11,000 lbs) of food, water, medicines, clean up kits to 10,000 people. As of March 7, another 5 metric tons had arrived in Jakarta ready for distribution. The total aid cost is expected to be $239,556 to benefit over 55,000 people. So far, 10% has been committed by organisations such as

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

Heart to Heart International Heart to Heart International is a global humanitarian organization based in Lenexa, Kansas with a mission of seeking to improve healthcare access around the world by ensuring quality care is provided equitably in medically under-resourced communit ...

and IOM.

References

External links

Jakarta Flood 2007
at WN
Pictures of flood on BBC News siteBBC radio interview with Jakarta-based blogger
{{DEFAULTSORT:2007 Jakarta Flood

Jakarta Flood, 2007 2000s in Jakarta Floods in Jakarta February 2007 events in Asia