TEMPO.CO, Semarang - Most of the Semarang City area was flooded following extremely heavy rainfall on Wednesday, March 13, 2024. The inundation is still widespread as the rain continues to soak the region.

Tempo observed that floodwaters inundated a number of points in the city center, such as Jalan Pahlawan, the Simpang Lima area, as well as the surrounding protocol roads.

The situation was worse in the eastern part of the city, such as Pedurungan and Genuk Districts, where floodwaters submerged residential areas. Meanwhile, the Semarang East Flood Canal (BKT) could no longer hold the water flow and overflowed into surrounding residential areas.

Parts of the North Coast or Pantura route were also quite deeply submerged. A number of vehicles broke down while crossing the floodwaters. The industrial area was also hit by flooding.

Semarang Mayor Hevearita Gunaryanti Rahayu said there were no signs that floods would hit the city. “The flooding was beyond predictions. There were no warnings,” she said.

She apologized to those affected by the floods during the holy month of Ramadan. “We will keep working so that the water recedes quickly.”

The city government, in cooperation with the Semarang Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) and the Interregional Leadership Coordination Forum (Forkopimda), set up an emergency post at Semarang City Hall and a public kitchen to provide food to affected residents and officials.

The Rapid Response Team (TRC) of Semarang BPBD and Central Java BPBD also continued to evacuate residents from homes submerged in the massive flooding and collect data on victims.

JAMAL ABDUN NASHR

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