Water Surge: Water Rose Too Fast For Evacuees To Save Ther Belongings

TANJUNG MALIM, Aug 24 (Bernama) -- Flood evacuees at the relief centre at Masjid Jamek Kampung Pasir here were unable to save most of their belongings when the floodwaters rose so swiftly yesterday afternoon.

Seffee Hussain, 66, from Kampung Pasir said he only thought about getting his wife who suffered a stroke to safety when the waters started rising at 6.30 pm yesterday.

"After that, I only managed to get the car to safety but other things in the house, such as the television, laptop, fridge and other electrical appliances couldn’t be saved.

"I’m lucky that I could reach the important documents placed on a higher area. I saw the water coming into the front of my house so quickly that it filled up the front before it flooded the house,” he said when met by Bernama here today.

A total of 128 evacuees from 32 families in Kampung Pasir were evacuated to Masjid Jamek Kampung Pasir and 32 people from 11 families were placed in Masjid Jamek Slim Village after a water surge hit the area yesterday.

Seffie said flash floods frequently hit the village but it was the worst after the last big flood.

"I don’t deny the possibility that the flood was caused by the river bund near the village is too low till it caused water to spill swiftly.

"The bund was higher last time, so the water would not flow down so swiftly, when the bund is low and breaks of course it’s easy for the water ton inundate the village area,” he said.

Meanwhile, Noyah Mahawi, 83, also shared that she was unable to save her household items as the water rose so quickly within half an hour.

"I was informed by villagers that we have to leave the house as my house would be hit by floods as the area upstream had already been hit, I received word at 6.15 pm and by 6.45 pm water had flooded my home.

"Now, we’ll just rest here at the centre but after this we villagers hope that volunteers would help us clean up as all of us are elderly,” she said.

-- BERNAMA