“I felt like I was in a river,” woman recalls terrible experience in flooded town

TAMPIN, Nov 30 – A terrified elderly woman was relieved when rescuers pulled her out of what appeared to be the middle of a river, after being trapped in her home in Sungai Kelamah for several hours surrounded by two meters (m) of water.

Hashimah Ali, 65, said this time the flood was also bigger than the previous monsoon that claimed the life of her husband Rosli Roslan, 66, after a heart attack while walking through floodwaters. to get to his cattle pen two years ago.

“My late husband died here on January 1, 2022. I remembered that tragedy. I didn’t feel traumatized because I expected a flood, but I didn’t expect it to be this bad compared to the last two years. At 3.30 today I realized that the house was flooded after continuous rain.

“I kept calling my friends because I couldn’t go out because the surroundings were flooded, I felt like I was abandoned in a river, I was very happy to see the firefighters, and then my family and I got on a boat for 300 meters to move to the temporary relief center in SK Gedok,” he said when met at the site today.

Meanwhile, Taman Pinggiran Sungai Kelamah head Mohd Azhari Mohd Diah, 56, said 80 percent of the 317 houses were flooded after six hours of incessant rain, a situation he described as worse than just before. two years.

“In 2022, two of the 14 lanes of houses in the back area were flooded, but now 12 rows of houses are affected, the first siren sounded today around 2.30 am and we started packing up (but) I did not expect the water to rise so fast.

“While we were waiting to be taken to the aid center, we cooked all the food that was available; If we hadn’t gone downtown, we would have only had enough supplies for two meals. “I fervently hoped that rescuers would arrive before the water reached the road,” he said.

In another heartbreaking moment, the Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) evacuated 36 workers trapped at a poultry farm in Gemencheh after they received their emergency call at 9:50 am

Fire Operations Chief II Mohd Yazid Yaakob said among the flood victims were 33 foreign men and three local women who were relocated to the SK Gedok relief centre.

A total of 11 people along with two engines, two boats and a Hicom truck went to the scene to carry out the rescue work, which ended at 1:10 p.m. — Bernama