Authorities did not expect the severe flooding in Selangor, says Bomba DG

SHAH ALAM: Authorities such as the Fire and Rescue Department did not expect Selangor to be hit by such severe floods last Saturday (Dec 18) as other government departments had identified six others as “critical states”.

“Previously, we did not focus on Selangor as reports from relevant departments identified six other critical states.

“What happened in Selangor last Friday and Saturday was extraordinary as a month’s average rainfall came down within 12 hours over a vast area,” said Fire and Rescue Department director-general Datuk Seri Mohammad Hamdan Wahid.

He said in the future, the department would coordinate with other agencies to identify flood hotspots and risk assessment.

“We will evaluate and ensure that local residents are given information early,” he said.

Mohammad Hamdan also outlined the personal sacrifices of some Department personnel, some of them whose families were flood victims themselves, yet they remained focused on saving others.

He said that this was not common knowledge as they did not share it on social media.

“Their first priority is always to save others – even to the extent that they did not know where their families were relocated (during the floods),” he said,

“Selfishness is non-existent for the men and women of the department,” he added at a press conference at the flood operation centre in Taman Sri Muda on Thursday (Dec 23).

Mohammad Hamdan said that while he and his personnel accepted criticism, the public should refrain from making baseless allegations.

“We accept criticism as we might not be perfect, but we are trying our best. The personnel sacrifice their time, energy and even lives for the sake of strangers,” he said.

He said the department will assist any victim regardless of their race, background or nationality.

Mohammad Hamdan also advised those in flooded areas to comply with instructions to relocate as there were many cases where families refused to do so.

“However, after we moved to other locations, the water rose drastically in their area and the victims called us for help. As we were elsewhere, it took time for us to return to rescue them,” he added.

However, Mohammad Hamdan conceded that there could have been instances where rescuers could not respond immediately.

“We always focus on critical cases first.

“We don’t deny there might be cases where victims were not rescued speedily due to various reasons such as strong water currents ... but we don’t want any life lost during rescue efforts,” he said.