---------No news from the Western (Indonesian) Front------
Extreme Weather Causes Havoc in Jakarta.
Extreme weather in the capital on Wednesday saw hail falling from the sky, trees uprooted, widespread surface flooding and damage to the exclusive Senayan City in South Jakarta.
Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) forcaster Bunga confirmed that hail had fallen in the Senayan and Thamrin areas in the central capital.
Bunga said hail would fall on rare occasions in Jakarta during the transition between the wet and dry seasons.
“It is also triggered by extreme weather like we are experiencing now,” she said.
Trees had also blown over throughout the capital, including at the Al Azhar Islamic School, Bunga said.
Miraculously, there no injuries when a tree was flown over at National Police headquarters, damaging 14 cars at 3 p.m.
Heavy winds also caused panels from the outside of Senayan City mall to peel away from the building. The ceiling to the Brewhouse cafe on the ground floor also collapsed. There were a number of shocked customers but no injuries.
Afdita Sari, a public relations consultant, said the hailstorm caused damage to buildings in the Senopati area in South Jakarta.
She said the thumb-sized hail broke windows in her office building at 3 p.m.
“My colleagues and I rushed out the building because of the clanking on the roof,” she said. “We saw ice pellets falling from the sky and the hailstorm lasted for about 15 minutes.”
Afdita said the hailstorm was followed by strong winds that lasted for 10 minutes.
“It was the first hail I’ve seen — very scary.”
She said a stall selling cigarettes in front of her building was damaged when a tree was blown over on top of it.
Bunga said the bad weather would continue tonight.
The Traffic Management Center said traffic from the Jalan Sudirman traffic circle to Senayan was at a standstill.
“Take the TransJakarta bus if you must,” the center said on its Web site.
The traffic is expected to be heavy this evening.
wo 16 maa 2011 - 22:52