25 Dead in Indonesia Flood; 340,000 Flee

Boats ferried supplies to desperate residents of Indonesia's flood-stricken capital on Sunday as rivers burst their banks following days of rain. At least 25 people have been killed and almost 340,000 forced from their homes, officials said.

Storm waters that inundated scores of residential areas and shopping districts late last week were still almost 10-feet deep in places on Monday, according to witnesses and Anwar Arifin, an official with Jakarta's flood information center.

"As of today, 75 percent of Jakarta remains flooded," Arifin said. The death toll from flooding in the capital had reached 25 as of Monday, he added, mostly by drowning or electrocution.

Jakarta's heavily criticized governor said he could not be held responsible for the worst floods to hit the city of 12 million in living memory, saying they were a natural phenomenon.

"There is no point in throwing abuse around," Governor Sutiyoso, who like many Indonesians uses one name, told el-Shinta radio station. "I was up till 3 a.m. this morning trying to handle the refugees."

Hundreds of people scrambled to the second floors of their houses to escape the rising waters. Some found themselves trapped, while others refused to leave despite warnings that the muddy flood waters may rise further in the coming days.

from the AP via the Los Angeles Times