SEREMBAN: The resort town of Port Dickson, which faces the Melaka Straits, was the worst-hit in Negri Sembilan in the wake of tropical storm Senyar, causing damage to properties and infrastructure.
Several properties, especially those fronting the sea, including a secondary school, private establishments and residential homes, were damaged due to unusually strong winds which started building up just before midnight on Thursday.
Although there were no fatalities, the high-velocity winds and heavy rain did cause some panic among residents who had never before experienced such a situation.
A state Fire and Rescue Service Department spokesperson said its operations centre received the first distress call from a Petron platform located at the end of a jetty just after 1am.
They were told that eight employees were stuck on the platform after part of the jetty collapsed.
“Five managed to save themselves by getting into a tugboat belonging to the petroleum company, while two others jumped into a rescue boat belonging to the company’s emergency response team. One remained stranded on the platform,” he said.
However, the victims could not come back to shore due to rough seas and strong winds.
A Civil Defence Force team was then sent out to rescue the eight.
Around 2.15am, a joint operation with Petron was carried out, and just before 4am, the last victim on the platform was rescued.
All eight victims were then moved onto a tugboat and brought to shore just after 6am.
The victims were all locals in their 20s and 50s.
A tanker and a barge loaded with containers are believed to have run aground due to the strong winds.
Damage also occurred at the Marine Department jetty as well as several other sea-fronting premises and hotels.
The more than a century-old Church of the Immaculate Conception suffered extensive damage, with a large section of the roof blown away. Churchgoer Dominic Muthu said it may take months to repair the damage.
The massive winds caused extensive damage to the building and equipment inside the church.
“A group of engineers from the Public Works Department arrived in the morning to assess the damage,” he said.
There were also several reports of uprooted trees in the district.
Continuous heavy rain had also caused flooding in several areas in the state.
According to the Civil Defence, as of 6pm yesterday, four flood relief centres housing 241 victims from 87 families were opened in the state due to floods.
These were SK Jimah Lama (135 victims), SMK Datuk Mohd Yusof (55), SK Jijan (20) and SK Undang Johol (31).
Two more centres have also been put on standby in SK Serting Hilir and Kg Dato Johan community hall.
State Education director Khalidah Omar said two students sitting for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia exam had to be moved to a flood relief centre at SK Jimah after their houses were flooded.
Another two were unable to make it to school due to floods.
“We will see if these students can be put up in hostels or if they can stay with relatives temporarily,” she added.
Khalidah said 1,038 pupils from four schools had to switch to online home-based teaching and learning.
