Nearly 20,000people were forced to flee home during the floods triggered by torrential rainsa day earlier, spokesmanfor Indonesia’s NationalDisaster Management Agency (NDMA) Agus Wibowo said.
Some parts of the city and its nearbyprovinces of West Java and Banten still remains submerged by waters, he said, adding that water with the height of up to onemeter is still inundating several parts of the capital and its surroundingareas.
Floods andlandslides have destroyed three school buildings and one Muslim mosque as wellas inundated over800 hectares of rice fields, causing huge financial losses to farmers, he said.
Makeshift tents and posts oflogistics have been set up for the affected people, and other emergency reliefaids such as food and blankets sent to the scene, according toWibowo.
To pave the way for the emergencyrelief efforts, a 14-day emergency was declared on February 26.
The search for the missing has beenunderway, the Indonesian official said. A joint rescue team has evacuated nearly 200 people, including babies and women.
Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatologyand Geophysics Agency's official Fachri Radjab said tropical Cyclone Esther inthe Gulf of Carpentaria of Australia and tropical Cyclone Ferdinand in theIndian Ocean triggered heavy downpours in western Java Island, including WestJava province and other parts of the country.
The agency warned of heavy downpourson February 26./.