Memories of 2006 horror flooding in

Water woes: An aerial view showing the flooded streets of Kota Tinggi town in Johor Baru. — Bernama

KOTA TINGGI: The nightmare of 2006-2007 is back, and fearful Kota Tinggi residents are packing their bags as floodwaters rise again.

Nurse A. Shamala took emergency leave from her workplace in Singapore and rushed home to be on standby for the disaster.

“My elderly parents and my children are staying in Taman Kota Jaya and I was worried that something might happen to them.

Off limits: Army personnel manning the main bridge at Kota Tinggi, which was closed off to the public due to the floods in the district. — THOMAS YONG/The Star

“I took emergency leave on Tuesday and Wednesday and packed our belongings. We are ready to evacuate at any time. The murky waters have been steadily creeping up.

“Looking at the floods makes us nervous. Back in late 2006 and early 2007, the floodwaters rose suddenly and reached the roof of our house.

“It was quite scary,” said the 47-year-old yesterday.

A flashback of The Star’s cover of the 2006 disaster.

For many here, the memories are fresh from 17 years ago when the entire Kota Tinggi town and nearby housing areas were submerged for nearly two weeks and they were cut off from neighbouring towns by floodwaters and landslides.

More than 100,000 people had to be evacuated to relief centres.

Checks yesterday showed floodwaters rising in Kota Tinggi town with several roads, including the main bridge entering the area, closed off.Mohd Haidzir Zainal, who owns a motorcycle repair shop near Jalan Abdullah here, has opened up his shop to his flood-affected peers to temporarily store their items.

“Another motorcycle repair shop operator nearby had his shop flooded on Wednesday, so he moved his equipment and motorcycles to my workshop.

A man wading through floodwaters in Kota Tinggi.

“We have to look out for each other. I still remember the terrifying scenes from the major flooding incident in 2006-2007 when the waters reached as high as the top of the traffic lights in front of my shop,” he said.

The 40-year-old added that there were ankle-level floods in 2021.

“At the time, I did not go home – I stayed overnight at my shop to monitor the water level in case I needed to move my equipment.

“While floods were common in the district, I could not help but feel worried as photos and news of the floods in Segamat on Wednesday were quite bad,” added Mohd Haidzir.

During the 2006-2007 floods, several parts of Johor were submerged in water, with Kota Tinggi being the hardest-hit district – the worst floods in the state in over 50 years.