Even the roof wasn't high enough, says Kuantan flood victim

KUANTAN: A man who was with his son thought it was safe to wait on the roof of their house for rescue, but even that was not high enough to escape rising floodwaters.

Sahadan Ibrahim, 54, said he and his son, Fikri, 21, were caught in the flood at Kampung Batu Sawar in Bukit Kuin here and decided to climb to the roof of their house when floodwaters started rising at 11pm on Saturday (Dec 18) and began rising sharply at 2pm on Sunday (Dec 19).

"The water level was inching closer, giving us second thoughts about whether to stay on the roof.

"We then decided to swim towards a two-storey house located about 50m away," he said.

He added they thankfully managed to make it over safely despite strong currents and stayed on the higher rooftop until they were rescued by a neighbour in a boat," he told Bernama when met at the Sungai Riau Bridge in Bukit Kuin on Sunday.

Sahadan, a welder, said they thought they could brave out the floods on the roof of their house, but the flood was too severe.

Sahadan said the flooding this time was the worst he had ever experienced since settling in Bukit Kuin five years ago.

"The water rose quickly and even though we had moved important items to a higher place, nothing could not be saved ... it was more important to save ourselves," he said.

Meanwhile, his son-in-law Sulaiman Roslan, 25, said he rushed to look for Sahadan after he called to say he was climbing to the roof in the morning.

Sulaiman said when he arrived at Bukit Kuin, the entrance was flooded but a few villagers were providing boat rental services.

"I then saw a boat with my father-in-law and brother-in-law approaching us. Alhamdulillah, everything was safe even though they only had the shirts on their backs," he said. – Bernama