This year’s rainy season has been thankfully mild so far, with the few monsoon downpours we’ve had causing only small, isolated flooding incidents (mostly in areas already extremely prone to flooding).
But we have yet to see the worst that this rainy season has to offer. According to the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), the peak of rainy season will take place in Jakarta in early February.
While that news may make some of you want to schedule a vacation out of the city in early February, we have reason to hope that this year the city will be better prepared to prevent major flooding, as Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama has been working steadily since last year’s disastrous floods to make sure we don’t have a repeat. His administration has done major work on clearing out the capital’s canals and rivers and moving residents of flood-prone slum areas into low-cost apartments.
However, BMKG warned that the possibility of flooding is still very real, particularly due to Jakarta’s low water catchment levels.
“Rain water should be absorbed by the ground, but in large cities absorption is very low, especially in Jakarta, where it is less than 20 percent,” said BMKG Head Andi Eka Sakya as quoted by Okezone.
It looks like all of Ahok’s preparations will be put to the test in just about a month. We believe that the city is a lot better prepared to prevent flooding this year than it has been in a long time, but still, we wouldn’t blame you if you still wanted to schedule that trip out of the city in early February.
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