Balikpapan is Flooded, Traffic from Balsam Toll Road to IKN is Badly Jammed

Floods in the area of Jalan Mulawarman, Balikpapan, East Kalimantan. Photo: Theresia Agatha/VOI

JAKARTA - The city of Balikpapan, which is the buffer for the capital city of Nusantara (IKN) in East Kalimantan, was hit by floods on Friday, August 9 morning.

Based on VOI's monitoring, heavy rain accompanied by lightning and strong winds has occurred since 04.30 WITA. As a result, a number of roads were flooded.

Puddles of water have various heights, ranging from the height of the ankle to the knee of an adult.

This causes severe congestion for vehicles heading towards the Balikpapan-Samarinda (Balsam) toll road.

Traffic began to be paralyzed in front of the Archipelago Capital Authority (OIKN) office or to be precise on Mulawarman Street to enter the Manggar Toll Gate (GT).

It took about 1.5 hours from Mulawarman Street to get into Manggar GT.

The flood also prevented two- and four-wheeled riders from crossing the road.

In fact, two-wheeled drivers were forced to park their motorbikes on the side of the road.