TEMERLOH: Residents of Temerloh were shocked and surprised by the early arrival of floods to their district since floods will only occur at the end of November until December, every year.
Kampung Batu Kapor resident Idham Halid Mohd Yusof, 57, said he did not expect the flood to ‘arrive’ in the middle of October, forcing the family to take shelter in a temporary evacuation center (PPS).
He said flood waters started coming into his house compound at about 5.30am and hence he and his wife Nurul Huda Said, 55, had to hurriedly shift electrical items and valuables to a safer place.
“There has never been a flood situation in October before, because it always happens in the 12th month, I really didn’t expect and was surprised by the flood arriving so early this time around,” he told Bernama.
Meanwhile, Nurul Huda said the last time they were hit by a severe flood situation was in 2021 when the water level reached the roof of the house they had lived in for over 30 years and various items were damaged.
“This time the water started coming into the kitchen and we kept packing things because we don’t want the flood situation of three years ago to happen again where many things can no longer be used and we had to buy new ones,” said the housewife.
Idham Halid and Nurul Huda were spotted when the couple were moving their three pet paddy horses to a higher area due to fear that the animal cage would be flooded.
Restaurant operator Sharuddin Mohd Shafie, 52, said he and his family had moved to the PPS last night since flood waters were rising sharply.
“Usually we get flood situations in December or November, but this time earlier than usual. The water in my house reached knee level and we were ordered to move immediately to the PPS,” said the father of three children.
Kampung Bongsu resident Lanchang Norizan Mohamed, 49, said the flood this time happened unexpectedly because the villagers usually faced the disaster in question at the end of the year or January.
“Floods are indeed unpredictable, but this time around it is only October and we were caught by surprise. We all couldn’t afford this and were forced to move to PPS in the middle of the night last night for safety reasons,” said the food stall owner.
Meanwhile, retiree Izhar Ibrahim, 60, hopes that the problem of flooding that occurs every year will be resolved immediately by the government because the disaster caused huge losses to the population while residents have to take shelter at PPS.
A visit to the flooded areas by Bernama revealed that the Kampung Batu Kapur Muslim Cemetery was completely submerged in flood waters while villagers living nearby were busy packing their belongings in preparation to be shifted to a nearby PPS.
According to the InfoBencana Social Welfare Application, as many as 856 flood victims from 244 families had been placed in five PPS in this area as of 3.30 pm.
The 2024/2025 North East Monsoon was predicted to start in November 2024 and continue until March 2025, with predictions of four to six episodes of continuous heavy rain during that period.
