Indonesia Flood Evacuees Hold Friday Prayers

Hundreds of people who have been displaced because of severe flooding in the Indonesian capital Jakarta hold Friday prayers, January 3.
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READ MORE: The worst flooding in six years in Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital, has killed more than 40 people this week and focused attention on improving flood controls before the planned relocation of the capital.

Nonstop rainfall Tuesday and Wednesday flooded 268 tracts in Indonesia, 158 in low-lying Jakarta, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said on its website. Drainage and levees in the capital are considered inadequate for storms of that scale, Southeast Asian economists say.

Tuesday’s rainfall reached 377 millimeters (14.8 inches), a record since 2007, The Jakarta Postonline said. The rains touched off landslides, trapped people in houses and prompted more than 19,000 to evacuate, local media reports say. The Red Cross federation put the number of displaced people at 31,232.