Indonesia: Floods that Paralysed the Capital and its People · Global Voices
A. Fatih Syuhud

Indonesia again gets international media intention for yet another natural disaster. This time  the capital Jakarta has gone through the worst floods in five years. The floods paralysed everything – the business activities, its people movement and day-to-day government activities.
Picture from Rifle's Flickr Page
Around 340,000 of Jakarta's population were forced to flee, leaving almost everything but themselves. Around 200,000 are homeless.
Ferry Rahman makes a daily report on the messy situation in the capital right from the first day of torrential rain that led to the flood which up till now has killed 20 people.
In today's posting, he tells his activities in helping his aunt whose house is badly affected:
My mother was already there and the flood gone. Can't believe that a few days ago water covered 1/4 of the house. I could just imagine the damage it had done to it.
It was pretty sunny, the sun was up and..it was just another beautiful day. It rained only for a few minutes during the day, but it was a very sunny day!
I entered the house to check for any damages. Obviously lot's of her clothes and bed sheets were soaked wet and smelly. Also lots of kitchen utensils were submerged in the flood, we had them cleaned but some of them were beyond repair (they were too old to be of any use anyway) so we had to throw them away.
Even two of her beds had to be thrown out. Yup, two spring beds!
But those can be replaced. What surprised me the most were my cousins official documents, including her high school diploma, birth certificates, etc. They were all just wet and damaged. Don't know how those are gonna get replaced.
Guess in her panic she just…forgot about them and left the house.
So the four of us cleaned what ever could be cleaned until the afternoon. Knowing that we would have to come back and clean again if a flood would ever come again.
We went home shortly after that.
We turned on the TV to get some new info about the flood.
Now even companies are sending messages to their employees not to come to work tomorrow.
How to Help
Peduli (means care) posted some very valuable links to aid organisation's website and their accounts geared specifically to help the flood victims. The links and bank account are particularly beneficial for fellow Indonesians in other part of the city wanting to lend a helping hand.
Meanwhile, for those non-Indonesians or anyone who are staying outside Indonesia, I  recommend to extend their help through international aid organisation who they know best. Unspun recommendation is a good one.
Other bloggers talking about the floods
Javajive: Floods in Jakarta
Jakartass:  Jakarta floods leave the question: Who's to blame?
Mojomaru