Floods bring Indonesia's capital to near standstill

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Waist-deep floods brought the Indonesian capital Jakarta to a standstill Thursday, with roads impassable, thousands of homes under water, and the president forced to roll up his trousers at the palace.

The muddy waters paralysed the city, which is home to 20 million people and already notorious for its chaotic traffic, with drivers in snaking queues stuck for hours and cyclists pushing their submerged bikes with only handlebars and seat-posts visible.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was pictured in the whitewashed grounds of the presidential palace with his trousers rolled up to his knees, brown waters lapping his calves and threatening to flood the shrubbery.

"Jakarta is flooded, hopefully there won't be too many victims," he told photographers, ordering military, police, and disaster officials to ensure public safety.

The monsoonal floods had driven more than 19,000 people from their homes, according to Jakarta governor Joko Widodo, and reports said two people had been killed on Wednesday, a two-year-old boy who was swept away and a 46-year-old man who was electrocuted.

Some roads to the airport were blocked and while many businesses across the city were forced to close, traders at some markets remained open, piling clothes and goods out of reach of the dirty water.

"Jakarta today is a huge swimming pool. Everyone's playing in the rain, walking in the water and laughing. The downside is, I have no idea how to get home, I might have to walk back three hours," 32-year-old administrative officer Yohanna, who like many Indonesians goes by a single name, told AFP.