More than 100 houses damaged in storm

Roof gone: Ramlah Din, 53, and her children tidying up their house after a storm tore their roof off in Kampung Pasir Gebu, Kepala Batas. — Bernama

KEPALA BATAS: More than 100 houses in Penaga here were damaged during a thunderstorm.

The roof of most of the houses were ripped off in yesterday’s 4.30am incident, which occurred while the occupants were preparing for sahur (pre-dawn meal).

Penaga assemblyman Datuk Mohd Zain Ahmad visited the area and advised residents whose houses were damaged to lodge a police report.

He said relevant agencies like the Social Welfare Department and the Implementation and Coordina­tion Unit of the Prime Minister’s Department would assess the damage to the houses so that immediate aid could be given to the victims.

The thunderstorm damaged 100 houses in 12 areas in Penaga, including Taman Penaga, Bakar Kapur, Kuala Muda, Kampung Pasir Gebu and Permatang Rawa.

One of the victims, Jalina Hassan, 47, of Taman Penaga said she was preparing the pre-dawn meal for her husband and two children when there was strong wind and heavy rain, and then the roof at the front portion of the house was ripped apart.

“We did not have time to have the meal and ran to the back room at the house for safety. We only came out of the room after the rainstorm subsided. Hari Raya is approaching and now our house is damaged,” said the housewife.

Another victim, Shukri Muin, 45, of Kampung Tepi Laut, Bakar Bata, said his house was badly damaged, especially the kitchen and two rooms. The roof was also damaged.

Meanwhile the Meteorological Department said thunderstorms in the waters off Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Melaka, Pahang and Sarawak (Rejang, Mukah and Bintulu) are expected to prevail until late today.

In a statement, it said the condition could trigger winds with speeds of up to 50kph and waves as high as 3.5m and dangerous for small boats while similar conditions were also expected in the waters of the southern Melaka Strait and Reef South. — Bernama