Residents in east coast brace for wrath of floods again

KUALA TERENGGANU: Residents in the east coast states suffer the wrath of the floods in the year-end monsoon season each year.

Abdul Malik Muhamad, a 39-year-old education technology officer from Tanjung Damai in Gong Badak, here, said the monsoon season brings sleepless nights.

“All we think about is the floods. My children aged two and 10 have started asking me if this year too we will have to put up in a relief centre.

“With the flood come snakes. So, it is better for me to start looking for another place to temporarily stay,” he said yesterday.

Self-employed Haslinda Mohd Zanggi, 44, and her family are not taking any chances.

“I have learnt from past experience. The car is always parked at the raised roadside.”

In KUANTAN, odd-job worker Zulkifli Ismail, 58, said high tide and the heavy rain in December flooded his village, Kam­pung Pasir Garam, making it inaccessible.

“By November, I will pack our essential belongings just in case my family has to move to a relief centre. I usually stay back to make sure nobody burgles our house.”

For keropok seller Roslina Othman, 36, stocking up on food is most important.

Her house is on stilts so while “waves appear in front of my house”, she said the water doesn’t come in.

In GUA MUSANG, Amran Mat, 49, of Kampung Tiong hopes that this year will be more forgiving as his house and belongings were all lost in the floods last year.

“There is nothing we can do but watch our property get washed away. The only way to see this through is with God’s help,” said the farmer with seven children, who have already moved to a relative’s house nearby.

Nik Mat Nik Dasuki, 50, regrets living by the Nenggiri river in Kuala Betis.

He can still remember his house being swept away in half an hour.

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