TAWAU: Residents of Kampung Tanjung Batu Keramat here decided to evacuate their homes for fear that Sungai Tawau would burst its banks following continuous heavy rain.
Sia Umbing, 74, said she woke up at 10pm on Saturday after her daughter in Lahad Datu called to ask her to check the situation outside.
“When I opened the door, the water had reached the stairs. Thank goodness my house is on stilts. If I had gone down to the ground, the water would have been chest-high,” she said.
Sia noted that while she knew the area was flood-prone, Saturday’s situation was unlike anything she had experienced before.
“For the first time, the high tide was coupled with heavy rain, and I was with my two grandchildren then. I just prayed while waiting for help arranged by the village head. We managed to get on the firemen’s boat to a safe place,” she said yesterday.
Sia said the victims were placed at the temporary evacuation centre (PPS) at the Tawau Sports Complex at 3am yesterday, Bernama reported.
She described the incident as a test during the month of Ramadan but expressed gratitude to the government for opening the PPS and providing food.
For Arbain Jafar, 69, the sudden rise of water up to his stairs prompted an immediate evacuation with his family as the heavy rain added to their anxiety.
“The water had not entered the house, but I was worried because the level was not the same as before. Usually, the water rises up to two steps and then subsides.
“But this was bad, so I was worried that if we waited until dawn, we might be caught in the flood inside our house. So, my wife, our seven children, and I were rescued in a fireman’s boat,” he said.
Arbain said it was a different Ramadan experience this time because he and his family had their sahur (pre-dawn meal) and broke their fast at the PPS while praying for the situation to improve.
As of noon yesterday, the PPS at the Tawau Sports Complex housed 245 victims from 55 households affected by the floods in Kampung Tanjung Batu Keramat.
