Situ Gintung 3.98

Situ Gintung was an artificial lake near to the town of Cirendeu in Tangerang District, Indonesia. It was formed by a dam up to 16m high which was built by Dutch colonial authorities in 1933. The dam failed on 27 March 2009, draining the lake, with resulting floods killing at least 100 people.HistoryThe lake and dam are located in the suburb of Cirendeu, Ciputat in Tangerang District. The dam was originally built of earth by Dutch colonial authorities in 1933 and was up to 16m high. It was made from earth compacted into a wall 16m high and the reservoir held at least 2000000m3 of water. The original use of the dam had been to retain water for irrigation of rice paddies which were then replaced by urban development. People living near the dam had made complaints about leaks in the past and the dam actually breached in November 2008 but no damage was done. It is thought that little maintenance had been carried out since the dam was built.2009 floodThe area experienced several hours of heavy rain on the night of 26–27 March 2009 which caused the dam level to rise, apparently because the gate leading to the spillway was too small. The dam was overtopped, eroding the dam surface and resulting in a breach 70m wide at around 2 am on 27 March local time (7 pm 26 March GMT). Cracks were reportedly visible in the face of the dam embankment from around midnight. The dam operators apparently sounded a warning siren shortly before the dam failed. A surge of water and debris several metres high was sent into the town of Cirendeu, washing away cars, houses and a brick-built bridge. The flood hit while most of the population was asleep and left standing water up to 2.5m deep. Many people were trapped in the town, many townspeople took to their rooftops to avoid the floodwaters. The flood killed 98 people, and 5 more were unaccounted for. The waters also inundated around 400 homes of which 250 were damaged or destroyed, displacing 171 people. The flood submerged five power terminals cutting drinking water supplies to the nearby suburb of Lebak Bulus.