Indonesian capital slammed by monsoon floods, more than 1,000 forced to evacuate

This aerial picture shows people rowing a raft over a flooded road in Jakarta on February 20, 2021, following heavy overnight rains. - AFP

JAKARTA, Feb 20 (Reuters): Severe flooding across several areas in the Indonesian capital forced more than a thousand people to flee their homes on Saturday, with the country’s meteorology agency warning the conditions were set to continue for the next week.

Some 1,380 Jakarta residents were evacuated from southern and eastern areas of the city, home to 10 million people, after floodwaters reached up to 1.8 meters high in some areas, said Sabdo Kurnianto, the acting head of Jakarta's disaster mitigation agency in a statement. He said no casualties had been reported.