JAKARTA: Whole neighbourhoods of Indonesia's capital Jakarta and dozens of major roads were flooded on Saturday after torrential rains pounded the Southeast Asian city overnight. More than 1,300 residents have been evacuated to temporary shelters, with parts of the capital under four to nine feet (1.2 to 2.7 metres) of water.
Images showed rescuers on rafts battling to evacuate the elderly and children from submerged houses in hard-hit southern and eastern areas of the city, and dozens of cars were seen submerged on waterlogged streets.
National rescue agency spokesman Yusuf Latif said the floods were triggered by extreme downpours.
"The rainfall intensity is very high due to extreme weather in Jakarta and it's been raining since yesterday night," Latif told AFP.
No casualties have been reported so far, he added. Jakarta, a megalopolis that is home to around 30 million people, is frequently hit by floods in the rainy season.
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