Water has since reached 5km inland around Timbulsloko and the surrounding Demak region, according to Denny Nugroho Sugianto, professor at Diponegoro University.
He called it a “slow disaster” happening before the world’s eyes, with data showing some areas around Timbulsloko sinking up to 20 centimetres annually, double the rate recorded in 2010.
“This is the largest rate of land subsidence” ever recorded in the area, he said.
“NO FUTURE”
Large parts of megalopolis capital Jakarta are expected to be submerged by 2050 for the same reasons, researchers say, but villagers along the Javan coast are on the front lines of the emergency.
Sulkan was forced to move his kindergarten from an old wooden building next to his house to another structure on higher land to prevent it from being lost.
Residents have elevated the floors of their homes by adding soil and then installing wooden decks to keep themselves dry as the floods become more severe.
This has left them with shrinking space, forcing anyone entering to stoop low to avoid bumping their heads.
Sularso, 54, said he had raised his floor three times since 2018, by a total of 1.5m, spending around 22 million rupiah (US$1,460).
“For me, there is no future,” the fisherman told AFP.
“This village … will be gone in less than five years. We can’t build, we can’t do anything.”