High tides submerge Bekasi's coastline

BEKASI (Jakarta Post) : Hundreds of houses were submerged with water when a high tide hit Segara Jaya village in Bekasi regency Sunday.

The one-meter-high waters also inundated 200 hectares of milkfish and shrimp ponds which were to be harvested at the end of this month.

Pond owner Sidiq said the seasonal tides this year were higher than in previous years. He said the waters reached villages up to three kilometers from the shoreline.

"We expect to see these huge tides once every five years ... these tides came early, since we last had a huge tide two years ago," he said as quoted by Tempointeraktif news portal.

Bekasi regency official Enop Chan said he and several officers would stay in flood-affected villages to assist residents with evacuation if needed.