Floods hit Kulim forcing 18 families to be evacuated

Get to safety: Members of the Civil Defence Force helping a family evacuate after floodwaters entered their home.

KULIM: Close to 80 flood victims have been rushed to a relief centre (PPS) after their houses were inundated by water here.

In some houses, the floodwaters reached waist level following several hours of heavy rain that began on Thursday night.

The PPS was only closed at 7pm yesterday, with all of the 78 victims from 18 families returning home.

Kulim’s Civil Defence Force officer Kapt (PA) Amirul Aliff Ahmad said the 78 victims, including 32 children and babies, were rescued and took shelter at Sekolah Agama Ihsaniah Jangkang, which had been turned into a PPS.

He said among the affected areas were Kampung Padang Limau, Kampung Banggol Penyengat and Kampung Simpang Tiga in Karangan.

“The heavy rain caused water from the hills to flow into the low-lying areas in the villages,” he said.

In Bandar Baharu, the Masjid Sungai Batu PPS was closed at 7pm yesterday after the situation improved.

Before that, 58 victims were sent to the relief centre after a three-hour downpour that caused rivers nearby to overflow and flood the villages.

In an effort to prevent flash floods in George Town, several flood mitigation works are ongoing in the city, said Komtar assemblyman Teh Lai Heng.

He said these include deepening the river from the stretch of the Red Bridge in Jalan Jelutong to the Jalan Patani Bridge.

“The works are part of the Sungai Pinang flood mitigation project,” he said in a post on Facebook.