Seeing ‘red’: Mohd Fikry, a watermelon seller, said the prolonged heat poses a big challenge for traders. — ZHAFARAN NASIB/The Star
KANGAR: After enduring months of drought, Perlis folk can now breathe a sigh of relief after the skies opened up to end the long wait for rain.
Fruit vendor Mohd Fikry Suhaimi, 25, said the rain over the weekend was timely amid preparations for Hari Raya next week.
“The prolonged heat had intensified during Ramadan, and it posed a big challenge for us (traders). Many residents here welcome the cooling effect of the rain, which provides relief from the scorching heat,” he said.
Hawker Siti Khadijah Suhaimi, 28, said she felt unwell last week, likely due to the heat.
“It was so hot at night in the past few weeks. I was so happy that it rained,” she said.
However, not everybody was happy at the sight of rain.
Watermelon trader Mohd Fadli Azri, 28, said his business would be affected should the rain continue.
“Although I welcome the rain, which cools down the temperature, too much rain is not good for my business.
“At the start of Ramadan, the fruits were selling like hot cakes because people liked to quench their thirst during buka puasa,” he said.
Mohd Fadli, who has been selling watermelons for the last 15 years, said he could sell between 1,000kg and 2,000kg of the fruits during a hot spell.
Perlis health and environmental committee chairman Megat Hashirat Hassan said the country is currently experiencing a weather transition.
‘We don’t know for how long the weather pattern will last this time. I would like to advise the public to keep vigilant with the change in weather,” he said.
Perlis has been consistently under Level 2 heatwave status since last month.
A Level 2 heatwave status can see the daily maximum temperature reach up to between 37ºC and 40ºC for at least three consecutive days.
Several areas in Kedah, particularly Pokok Sena, Langkawi and Sik, as well as places in Perak like Hulu Perak, Kuala Kangsar and Kinta, also saw consistently high temperatures.
Meanwhile, Penangites also enjoyed much-needed rain yesterday after a long hot spell.
Despite the shower, the water level at all three dams in the state remained unchanged, with Air Itam dam’s effective capacity at 35%, Teluk Bahang dam at 67.6% and Mengkuang dam at 89.7%.
