Eyewitness: Jakarta floods

More rainfall overnight in Indonesia has hampered clean-up efforts after severe flooding in the capital Jakarta.

Jakarta residents emailed the BBC News website about the impact floods have had on people's lives.

LAKSMI PRASVITA

Laksmi Prasvita: Getting to my house is a challenge

We had heavy rain again last night and today [Tuesday] the water level in some areas is higher than yesterday. On my way to work I see houses that are half-submerged in water.

I live in west Jakarta. My house is not flooded but the only higher road leading to it was flooded badly, so it is now closed.

In order to reach my house I have to go through several flooded points and I have to use a combination of transportation: motor bike, taxi, mini bus and walking.

Power has been on and off. More off than on. Domestic appliances are not functioning at all. There's no TV, not to mention the internet.

So I live and navigate in the dark: no news, no radio, no communications. Every time power comes back, I quickly turn on the radio to listen to the news.

The newspapers didn't circulate for a couple of days over the weekend. I walked from shop to shop to find newspaper, but they never arrived.

The flooding has affected the local grocery store. When I went shopping I discovered that people were buying a lot of food in panic. The vegetable stalls are half empty and there was almost no fish left. I had to queue for two hours to buy food.

The freezer at home has defrosted. My mother had to cook all of the food in it, so that it's not wasted.

JAIDEEP SINGH

Jaideep Singh is one of the few who goes to work every day

Jakarta is virtually submerged. We had heavy rain overnight again that has caused more flooding.

Jakarta is surrounded by hills and even when it doesn't rain, there is always the danger of water coming from the hills. The weather outlook is for more rain still, so anxiety levels remain high.

The whole city is at a standstill. I work in the central business district, which looks deserted. Not many people come to work. For those who are affected, their priority is to sort out their housing first.

We have a colleague who is heavily pregnant and with a one-year-old baby. She was stranded in her house for more than 48 hours before she was rescued.

For those of us who do come to the office, the commute is a struggle. This morning it took me two and a half hours to get to the office - a journey that normally takes 40 minutes.

Some of the international schools have opened today, but many local schools are suffering flooding inside the premises or there is no access to them. Telecommunication systems continue to be affected badly.

I work in a bank and we had major disruptions over the last few days. Even the most simple transactions wouldn't go through. Now the banking system seems to be limping back to normalcy.

KUNAL TOPANDASANI

Kunal Topandasani: Our house has become a refugee camp

I live in Sunter, in northern Jakarta. There is about 30cm of water outside my house, which has slowly been rising.

Forty metres down the road the water reaches the waistline and further down you go, it gets deeper. We are lucky that our house was built on a higher ground.

All my neighbours are leaving their homes, as it's impossible to stay. Some go to nearby hotels, others stay in mosques.

Hotels are now housing people, as it is an emergency. But it's only for one night, after which they have to find another place.

We haven't had electricity for the last two days. The only reason we are still here is because we have a diesel electric generator.

We bought it on Friday and it took six hours of queuing and fighting with other buyers. These machines are expensive and there is no guarantee that they'll work.

But it is working fine for the time being. Our house has become a refugee camp. It's a three-bedroom house and we managed to give shelter to 20 friends and relatives.

We had to rescue my grandmother's sister, who was stranded in her house. We borrowed a container truck to go through the water and then used bamboo rafts to get to her.

The situation is really bad. There are lots of mosquitoes, the water is dirty and there's garbage floating in the streets.

The streets are dark and scary and there are fewer cars passing by. I can see several cars floating and there is not a single soul to help.