Lives upended by floods

VILLAGERS in Kampung Padang Serai in Beruas, Perak, want the authorities to initiate immediate measures to prevent flash floods from recurring at the village.

Floodwaters are slow to recede in Kampung Padang Serai as it is surrounded by oil palm plantations, taking days or even weeks before life returns to normalcy.

Beruas is located in south-west Perak, near Manjung and the village is situated in the Pengkalan Baru constituency bordering Pantai Remis.

Signs that a downpour is imminent strike fear among villagers because they know there is a possibility of the village being flooded during the monsoon season.

Their fear is justified especially after the village was hit by floods on Nov 15 that inundated homes following a downpour that lasted hours.

A total 182 people from 57 families were relocated to a temporary relief centre in Sekolah Agama Rakyat Padang Serai from Nov 15 to Dec 5.

According to the villagers, Sungai Beruas has the tendency to overflow resulting in repeated flash floods.

The river is located on higher ground while the village is in a low-lying area.

The other problem is attributed to narrow culverts which are not wide enough to accommodate the high volume of water during a downpour.

A majority of villagers own small pockets of land for growing oil palm and they are worried that the village may be hit by floods again as it has been raining regularly.

Rashid Mad Noh, who has lived in the village for 40 years, said villagers had been dealing with floods for many years and expected their homes to be affected during the monsoon season.

He said his house compound would resemble a pond whenever it flooded.

Rashid, 77, said the Nov 15 flooding was the worst so far as water breached the barriers set up at his house.

“The water reached waist- level at some of my neighbours’ houses,” he said.

Although the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) had carried out remedial works more than a year ago, Rashid believed it did not help much as the village was hit by floods again.

Rashid said he had to get his wife and 11-year-old grandson to safety when the water level started rising around 2am on Nov 15.“Water level started rising as it had been raining from 8pm, so I called family and friends for help when I knew it was unsafe,” he said.

His 78-year-old wife Siti Hawah Salleh, who has knee problems, said neighbours living on higher ground came to help.

“They arrived in a boat and got us to safety before taking us to the nearby relief centre,” she said, adding that the family only moved back home on Dec 5.

Siti Hawah said judging from the flood aftermath, it would take the couple weeks to clean their house thoroughly.

“Most of our furniture, mattresses, and floor mats are damaged,” she said.

Ahmad Awang Kasa, 52, a villager, said a river deepening project had been carried out six years ago.

He said DID should carry out river maintenance works at least two or three years once.

“If there is overgrown grass and rubbish in the river as well as at water outlets, then it is bound to overflow,” he said.

Ahmad said most of his furniture and electrical items had been destroyed in the floods.

“I kept all the important items at a higher place but I forgot about the desktop computer and it is damaged,” he said.

“A day before the flood struck, I elevated the refrigerator and washing machine on bricks but that did not help much because the water level rose higher than expected.

“I could only think about the safety of my aged parents and my wife when the water started rising.”

Azizah Baharuddin, 61, who lives alone after her husband passed away 10 years ago, said her sliding glass door shattered due to the impact of the floods.

“In my 20 years of living here, the floods this time was the worst.

“The floods back in 2014, and 2016 were bad as well but water did not enter our homes.

“DID did some mitigation work after that so there was no major flooding last year.

“However, this time it rained heavily and continuously and the river overflowed leaving our houses partially submerged,” she said, adding that her carpets, clothes, furniture, and flower pots were destroyed in the flood.

Ahmad Shahdan, 65, said he was restless on Nov 15 as it was raining non-stop.

However, he dozed off only to wake up later to find water seeping into his house.

“The water level rose fast to above waist-level.

“My wife and I had to wade through the water to get help from friends who had, fortunately, brought a boat to get us out.

“I did not have time to keep my items at a higher place so most of my belongings were damaged,” he said, adding that he did, however, have the foresight to park his car and motorcycle on higher ground that evening.

Another affected villager Saad Darus, 62, said more than 20 of his chickens died that night.

He was kept awake by the continuous rain because he feared that it might flood.

“True enough, water started rising, and I woke my wife and three children to get to safety.

“The worst part of floods is the cleaning process afterwards and neighbours cannot help us because they are affected too,” he added.

Housewife Siti Khadijah Mohd Sabri, 22, said this was her first experience dealing with such bad flooding as a married woman and mother.

“I used to live at my grandparents’ house, and they knew what to do.

“This time, it was only my husband, one-year-old baby and me at home, so we panicked when water started rising,” she said adding that their family members came to their rescue.

Pengkalan Baru assemblyman Azman Noh said the village’s geographical topography was like a crater holding water for a long period of time hence it would take time for water to recede.

He said although a bund had been constructed at the river some time back, the river still overflowed due to excessive rainfall.

Azman said he was informed by DID that a RM33mil flood mitigation project had been planned for the area.

“Tender for the project will start early next year. I hope work will be carried out soon, so that villagers will not have to deal with floods next monsoon season.

“I was told by DID that the plans include creating a retention pond, deepening the river and replacing culverts,” he said.

Azman said culverts on the main road leading from Beruas to Parit, and from another section of the road heading towards Ayer Tawar must be upgraded.

He said one way to do so was to change the culverts constructed some 80 years ago.

“I feel if this is done, then the problem can be overcome as the current culverts are small and cannot accommodate huge amounts of water.

“Although DID cleans the river every year, the river still overflows and the flooding problem has yet to be solved,” he said.