Kelantan folk devastated by 3rd round of floods

PETALING JAYA: Having just begun to recover from floods earlier this month, residents of Tanah Merah, Kuala Krai, and Machang in Kelantan have been left devastated by yet another round of floods today.

Kampung Batu 9 resident Suhardi Aziz, 50, said he was evacuating from his home for the third time within a month due to floods, Bernama reported.

“Heavy rain since last night caused the water level to rise rapidly, and I only had time to save a few important documents. I could only stare in disbelief because the household items damaged in the recent floods have yet to be fully restored.

“The marks of mud from the previous floods are still visible, and now cleaning the mud seems pointless,” he was quoted as saying.

As of 10.45pm, the number of flood evacuees in Kelantan and Terengganu has reached 1,187.

The meteorological department forecast very heavy continuous rain in Jeli, Tanah Merah, Machang and Kuala Krai in Kelantan; as well as Besut, Setiu, Kuala Nerus, Hulu Terengganu, Dungun and Kemaman in Terengganu.

Similar weather conditions with lighter rainfall are expected in other parts of the two states, as well as several districts in Pahang, Johor and Sabah.

Kampung Tengah resident Yaseer Abdullah, 45, said his house had been submerged since 9am today due to nonstop heavy rain. He added that he starts to get anxious whenever there’s a heavy downpour, for fear of possible floods.

“All my efforts to clean the house have been in vain. All the items I tried to save before are now submerged again. But I will not give up and will continue to soldier on,” he said.

Kampung Keroh resident Nik Sofia Nuranis Nik Ismail, 27, said her house was flooded to knee level due to heavy rain since last night, prompting her and her family to move their belongings to higher ground before evacuating the home.

“(This is) to prevent them from being swept away, just like during the flood that happened recently. Many household items were damaged and swept away, but there’s nothing we can do as we are used to these disasters and face floods two to four times a year.”