Business owners, traders and workers in Section 51A, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, were busy cleaning up their premises yesterday after floodwaters inundated a food court, factories and warehouses, leaving behind mud and damaged equipment.
Many said they would need about a week before being able to resume operations, with some still assessing the full extent of the damage.
The area has been a flood hotspot, with recent major incidents occurring on April 20 and May 6.
Traders at Medan Selera Jaya 223 food court described last Saturday’s flood as the worst they had experienced and appealed to the authorities to take immediate action.
Mixed rice vendor Nuraini Zainudin, 59, who has been operating at the food court for over a year, said she had only recently replaced a refrigerator and freezer that were damaged in the previous floods.
“I placed both appliances on the countertop to prevent water damage, but the water rose so high that everything was overturned.”
Nuraini was forced to throw away all her spoilt ingredients while cleaning up.
“How are we to make a living with frequent floods affecting our livelihoods?
“I hope the authorities will have compassion and help solve this problem once and for all.”
Another mixed rice vendor Alice Victor, 47, said she feared her new refrigerator had been damaged.
“Even though I secured the refrigerator to the wall with an elastic rope, the floodwaters were too strong and overturned it.
“I had just replenished my groceries on Saturday morning.”
She said Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) had waived the rental for two months after the April flood but that barely covered her losses.
“MBPJ should either relocate us or fix the flooding problem as soon as possible,” said Alice.
“We cannot afford to go through this every other month.”
Factories and warehouses in the area were not spared.
Pensonic Sales and Service Sdn Bhd human resources officer Abirami Selvaraji said the company would have to wait for its insurance adjuster to assess the damage.
“All the items in our showroom and storeroom have been damaged. Customers’ products sent for servicing were also damaged.
“I am still handling insurance claims from the previous floods and now I have another round of claims to deal with,” she said.
StarMetro also saw several people arranging for their flood-damaged vehicles to be towed away.
Among them was bank officer Ng Guan Teik, from Subang Jaya, who had parked his car by the road to play pickleball at a nearby court.
“It was raining heavily but I went ahead as the court had been booked from 4pm to 6pm.
“The owner had warned me that the area was prone to flooding but I did not think it would be that serious.
“The floodwaters rose very quickly and by the time I realised what was happening, it was too late to move my car,” said Ng.
The massive downpour also led to trees falling in some areas.
In Ampang, eight cases of fallen trees were reported to the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ) on Saturday.
In a social media post, MPAJ said its personnel from its Enforcement as well as Youth, Community and Landscape Departments were immediately mobilised to the affected sites to remove fallen branches and restore public access.
“All eight complaints were addressed to ensure public safety and smooth traffic flow as well as to minimise the disruptions to the local community,” MPAJ said.
Parts of Shah Alam and Klang were also affected by flash floods following Saturday’s downpour.
Among the affected areas were Section 13, Section 7 near i-City, areas near Universiti Teknologi Mara and Bukit Raja.
Meanwhile, Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) has been urged to upgrade the drains in the area to reduce the risk of recurrence, after floods hit parts of Seputeh on Saturday.
The floods affected areas such as Taman Desa, Danau Desa and Kuchai Entrepreneurs Park (KEP).
Seputeh People’s Representative Council Zone 6 chairman Alvin T. Ariaratnam urged DBKL to ensure that the city’s infrastructure was ready for heavy rains.
“Drains need to be deep enough and be clear of rubbish.”
Alvin said DBKL had approved a project to upgrade the drains in Kampung Che’gu Jali, which was also affected by the flood.
“The drains’ depth will be increased from 600mm to 1,200mm,” he said.
“These drains channel water from Jalan Awan Kemawan to Jalan Awan Jingga before flowing into Sungai Klang.”
Alvin added that a tree fell onto the fence and roof of a house in Jalan Awan Kuning 1 at about 3am yesterday.
He urged DBKL to increase its manpower in the Landscape and Recreation Development Department so that it could trim high-risk trees more often.
Flat KEP resident Nasrun Ismail said the neighbourhood’s drains were not of sufficient capacity after 30 years of development in the area.
“The water rose to calf level on Saturday, when the flood hit Jalan Kuchai Maju 14 and Jalan 7/116b.
“I even saw some drain covers being forced open by the overflowing water.
“It’s time for DBKL to deepen the existing drains and to build more drains to accommodate the increased density in the area.”
Nasrun also lamented the overdevelopment in the area.
“As these spaces are occupied by non-green structures such as food courts, their water catchment ability is lost as the soil is covered by concrete,” he said.
