Jakarta governor declares flood alert

Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan has instructed the Jakarta provincial administration to stay alert, calling on the capital city`s inhabitants to remain vigilant for signs of flooding.

"This morning, I instructed all staff to be alert, and I`ve called on all residents to anticipate heavy rain and lightning, particularly in East and South Jakarta," Baswedan said here, Friday.

Based on the weather forecast issued by the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), Jakarta is expected to be hit by a downpour and lightning this evening.

"This is the weather forecast from the BMKG. Heavy rain is expected in the afternoon and evening today. We should anticipate it to prevent problems," he remarked.

Jakarta was hit by flooding on Monday (Dec 11), but the floodwaters subsided relatively quickly.

The Indonesian capital city has 145 housing pumps, 152 immobile pumps, and 150 mobile pumps to mitigate the impact of floods.

The governor noted that despite the ongoing infrastructure construction in Jakarta, waterways should be kept free to prevent flooding.

Meanwhile, La Ni?a has strengthened over the past month, as indicated by an increasingly prominent pattern of below-average sea surface temperatures across the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, according to a La Nina advisory issued by the US Weather Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The atmospheric circulation over the tropical Pacific Ocean also reflects the activity of La Ni?a, with convection being suppressed near the International Date Line and enhanced over Indonesia.

Overall, the ocean and atmosphere system reflects La Ni?a, which is predicted to persist through the Northern Hemisphere`s winter for 2017-18

Source: ANTARA