Tumpat Flood Victim Goes Hungry After Being Unable To Return To Evacuation Centre

TUMPAT, Dec 1 (Bernama) — A man braved a three-kilometre walk through waist-high floodwaters to search for food supplies after the area around Taman Sri Bayu here was cut off due to severe flooding.

Choo Swe Ing, 40, said he was separated from his wife and two children after dropping them off at the temporary relief centre (PPS) at MRSM Tumpat last Friday.

“After I sent my family to the PPS, I returned to Taman Sri Bayu to move movable items to the upper floor.

“I stayed overnight at home, exhausted after relocating furniture and electrical items. I didn’t expect the road to MRSM Tumpat to be completely cut off the next morning,” he told Bernama.

The following day, Choo discovered that the main route to the evacuation centre was submerged, leaving him stranded without food while the alternative path via the railway line was accessible only by four-wheel-drive vehicles.

Choo now sleeps in his car, parked in a safer area, where he charges his phone and ventures into floodwaters to seek food from outsiders who manage to access the area, as local shops and restaurants have ceased operations.

Another flood victim from the same housing estate, Noor Addha Azmi, 33, recounted a harrowing moment when strong currents caused a small bridge connecting the area to collapse, severing all access.

“It happened early yesterday morning, around 1 to 3 am. We heard loud noises as the bridge gave way piece by piece,” Noor Addha said.

She expressed concern over ongoing erosion beneath nearby roads, fearing further collapse.

Yesterday, the Kelantan Public Works Department confirmed that a 60-metre stretch of road in the area was destroyed by the flood's powerful currents.

The department has closed the road, with repairs pending until water levels recede.

— BERNAMA