So it's happy days there too!

More Wild Weather Expected in Jakarta

Arientha Primanita | December 29, 2010



The extreme weather that felled trees and damaged homes on Tuesday was expected to continue across the capital over the coming week, experts have said.

Speaking on Wednesday, Edvin Aldrian, head of climate change at the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), said the freak weather that swept strong winds and heavy rains into Jakarta had been caused by a collision of hot and cold fronts.

“The difference in air temperature caused the air to swirl,” he said. “This sometimes causes tornados, which we cannot predict.”

Edvin said the agency was forecasting more extreme weather for the week ahead. “Within the next week, the weather in Greater Jakarta will bring high rainfall and heavy winds,” he said.

Tiharom, head of Jakarta Fishermen’s Communication Forum (FKNJ), said strong winds lashed the city’s north coast at around 5 p.m. on Tuesday.

The gusts caused damage to 30 houses in two neighborhoods in the Marunda area of Cilincing subdistrict in North Jakarta.

“The wind was so strong and it was like a tornado, spinning for about four minutes,” Tiharom said. “It was very quick, but the result was major damage.”

The houses damaged, he said, were mostly semipermanent structures built about 10 meters from the shore.

Tiharom, who has been fishing in the area since he was 15, said extreme weather had plagued local fishermen over the past four months. In addition to strong winds, he said tidal flooding had also been a worry.

He said Marunda residents never received information about the weather or conditions at sea, making it dangerous for them to go out fishing.

Riza Damanik, secretary general of the Fisheries Justice Coalition (Kiara), said the government should help provide an integrated weather information system. “The fishermen cannot access the BMKG Web site. The information should be forwarded through the villages and mosques via loudspeaker,” he said. “Aside from that, the information can also be spread through SMS via local leaders.”

Ipih Ruyani, head of Jakarta’s Maritime and Agricultural Office, said its North Jakarta branch passed on weather information to the ports and if the weather was unsafe for fishing, the port authorities should not allow fishermen to depart.

Four cars and several motorcycles were reported damaged by Tuesday’s extreme weather. Some 78 trees were also felled across the city by the strong winds, with West Jakarta reporting the most incidences with 33 cases.