Asia-Pacific News
High sea tides paralyze traffic in Indonesian capital
By DPA
Nov 27, 2007, 8:28 GMT

Jakarta - High sea tides flooded parts of the Indonesian capital, inundated thousands of homes, cutting off a toll road leading to the international airport, stranding thousands of passengers, local media reports said Tuesday.

Authorities installed pumps to bring down water levels, which were 1.7-meters high in several sub-districts and reached as far as two kilometres inland.

Residents in north Jakarta have grown used to flooding during the monthly high-tide cycle, but Monday's flooding was the worst in memory.

Jan Japp Brinkman, a flood expert was quoted by the Jakarta Post as blaming on ignored warnings about exceptional 18-year high tide cycles. He added that the situation was exasperated by a failure to fix a sea barrier that was breached over a week ago.

About 8,000 houses were flooded and sea water swamped the toll road connecting the capital with the Soekarno-Hatta airport, leaving thousands stranded or trapped in traffic jams.

Many flights were disrupted or forced to leave with only a handful of passengers, while thousands were left stranded. Many have opted to stay overnight at airport, while waiting their departure on Tuesday morning, airport officials said.