TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Floods that swept several parts of Jakarta on Wednesday morning forced a total of 19,109 residents to evacuate to higher grounds, said Jakarta Governor, Anies Baswedan.

"In total, 19,109 residents are taking refuge and the Jakarta provincial government is handling them now," he said at a press conference after inspecting the flood-hit areas in the capital along with Minister of Public Works and People Housing, Basuki Hadimuljono, and Chief of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), Lt. Gen. Doni Monardo, on Wednesday.

There were 9,248 evacuees in East Jakarta, 5,080 in South Jakarta, 3,583 in West Jakarta, 888 in North Jakarta and 310 in Central Jakarta, he said.

The Jakarta administration is focusing on evacuating residents who suffered on account of the floods, which followed torrential rains from Tuesday evening to Wednesday morning,

He pointed out that some 120,000 officers from the ranks and files of the Jakarta administration have been deployed to help the flood victims in the capital.

The floods have claimed the lives of four people, Anies said.

"Right now, four people have been confirmed dead, two in East Jakarta, one in Central Jakarta and one in South Jakarta," he explained.

Governor Anies Baswedan expressed hope that the death toll in the Jakarta floods will not increase.

ANTARA