THROUGH RAIN OR SHINE

TNB personnel carrying out work to restore power supply in Kulai, Johor.

FLOODS occur for a variety of reasons and are the most common and destructive natural disaster.

Life and work is halted when dangerous flood currents threaten, and the possibility of landslides looms.

But for Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) overhead lines team assistant technician Mohd Lokman Hakim Yusof, his experience with floods in 2014 has enabled him to weather the challenges in Raub, Pahang, this year.

“The past experience has prepared me mentally, although my bigger test started even before I reached my location to report for duty in Raub, ” said Mohd Lokman, 35, who is based in Marang, Terengganu.‘We had to tread carefully around the hilly areas because of the sandy surface and muddy ground, ’ said Mohd Lokman.

“From Marang, our journey took about 13 hours as many routes were closed because of the floods. Normally, it would only take five hours, ” he said.

Mohd Lokman is part of the auxiliary team from other states mobilised by TNB to help 270 of its personnel in Pahang who were on 24-hour standby due to the floods in the state.

Since Jan 5 this year, TNB has deployed its workforce from Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Terengganu, Kelantan, Kedah and Penang to tackle the flood situation in Pahang.

“Our team is responsible for the installation of power cables at Kampung Temalian Dong in Raub, which was buried and damaged by a landslide, ” he said.

“We had to tread carefully around the hilly areas because of the sandy surface and muddy ground. As it was rainy, we faced the threat of landslide or falling trees.Mohd Lokman and his teammates lugging electricity cables across hilly and muddy areas in Raub, Pahang, for power supply.

“We were thankful that nothing untoward happened and we accomplished our tasks, ” he said.

In places such as Kulai in Johor, people began to return to their homes when the water level subsided.

TNB Kulai field crew assistant technician Noorashid Pairan was entrusted with the job of restoring electricity supply to consumers after the floods.

In certain cases, while the water may have receded at residences, the power substations in the areas were still flooded, and work had to be stopped for the safety of the people there.

“Flood victims who returned home couldn’t wait to get electricity back so that they could start cleaning up, ” he said.

“There were instances where the main routes to their neighbourhood are still flooded, and the electricity substations there are not safe for operations, ” he said.

“We have to ensure that the area is safe, including the meters installed at their homes, before we can proceed with restoring power supply, ” he said.