Five die as flooding hits Jakarta

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Floods in Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, have killed five people and forced about 100,000 to leave their homes.

Large parts of Jakarta were inundated when rivers burst their banks following two days of unrelenting downpours.

Rising floodwaters cut power, water and communications to parts of the city and forced medical teams to use boats to reach many of those left stranded.

Indonesia is hit by heavy rains every year, but officials say this year's floods are the worst for five years.

The city remains on high alert with warnings that the downpours could continue for another week.

Weather watch

Aid workers are trying to deliver food to those stranded in their homes, but navigating a passage through the city is proving difficult.

Several main roads into the city are blocked and most train services have been cancelled, says the BBC's Rebecca Henschke, in Jakarta.

Inflatable dinghies were used to ferry people to safetyInstead those trying to help have taken to inflatable boats.

Many people have been forced from their houses by rising floodwaters.

"I had to put my motorcycle in the university out there and walk in the floods to my house last night [Friday]," one man, called Najmi, told the AFP news agency.

"The water in front of my house is [at] about one metre. We have been trapped here since yesterday morning."

Others complained not enough was being done to help and the whole situation was predictable.

"There is nothing that we get from the government. It happens every year. We get only very little aid. We've seen nothing from the government," one resident said.

With more rain forecast, officials warned people to be prepared for more floods.

"We must be on guard. The weather is still our enemy here," one official told the Reuters news agency, urging those living in low-lying areas to seek refuge