Jakarta flooding kills 16

Severe flooding in Indonesia's capital as residents celebrated the new year has killed at least 16 people, displaced tens of thousands and forced an airport to close, the country's disaster management agency said today.
Monsoon rains and rising rivers submerged at least 169 neighborhoods and caused landslides in the Bogor and Depok districts on Jakarta's outskirts, National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Agus Wibowo said.
Video and photos released by the agency showed cars floating in muddy waters while soldiers and rescuers in rubber boats helped children and elders forced onto the roofs of flooded homes.
The floods inundated thousands of homes and buildings in poor and wealthy districts alike, have forced authorities to cut off electricity and water and paralyzed transport networks, Wibowo said.
More than 31,000 people were in temporary shelters after floodwaters reached up to 2.5 meters in places, Wibowo said.
As much as 37 centimeters of rainfall was recorded in Jakarta and West Java's hilly areas on New Year's Eve, causing the Ciliwung and Cisadane rivers to overflow, Jakarta Gov. Anies Baswedan told reporters after conducting an aerial survey over the flooded city.
He said 120,000 rescuers were helping people evacuate and installing mobile water pumps as more downpours were forecast. He vowed his city administration would complete flood-mitigation projects on the two rivers.-AP