Four killed after torrential hillside gush, adding to flood’s destruction

ALOR SETAR: “Everything happened so fast. We’re really shocked by the intensity of the flood water gushing into our house,” exclaimed businessman Muhamad Taufiq Rodzali.

That was how 32-year-old Taufiq described Wednesday’s incident where all he and his family could do was to move their cars to higher ground and quickly take shelter on the second floor of their double-storey house in Kampung Ruat in Yan.

“We could only watch our belongings being submerged in the muddy water. The whole ground floor was inundated and the water reached chest-level quickly,” he said.

Taufiq said the first thing he did was to get his father, 71, and his mother, 57, to safety when the water started to flow into their house at about 4.30pm.

“I made sure they were safe upstairs and we waited until the water subsided before we came down. Both my parents were really scared by the intensity of the flood,” said Taufiq, who added this was not the first time the house was flooded.

“In 2014, the floods were equally bad. We are just happy we are all safe, even though our fridge, freezer, washing machine and other electrical appliances were destroyed,” he said.

Besides leaving a trail of destruction, the floods were accompanied by a gushing torrent from the hill in Titi Hayun which killed four – Ahmad Din, 64, Sharuzi Mohamad, 53, and Zainol Morad, 66, all locals, while the fourth victim has yet to be identified.

At press time, the search and rescue operation (SAR) to look for two more missing victims continued.

Kedah Fire and Rescue Department assistant director (Operations), Mohamadul Ehsan Mohd Zain said the missing persons were among 22 people affected by the floods.

“Fifteen people are safe, four have died, one seriously injured,” said Mohamadul Ehsan, who added that 30 Fire and Rescue personnel were involved in the operation, assisted by the police and the People’s Volunteer Corps (Rela).

In addition, he said their search also covered Salak Denai in Batu Hampar, involving 20 firemen.

Mohamadul Ehsan added that 19 employees of the Jerai Hill Resort were still stuck in Gunung Jerai as the access road had been cut off by a landslide. Yan and Kuala Muda have been classified as Level One disaster areas, and the public have been warned to avoid going there temporarily.

In a joint statement, the Consumers’ Association of Penang and Sahabat Alam Malaysia called on the state to hold an independent inquiry into the tragedy.

“We need to respect nature, recognise its limits, and take appropriate mitigating and preventive measures immediately.

“This for us to understand the actual cause and work on preventive and rehabilitative measures to avoid another incident,” it said.