Stunned by ferocity of floods, Perak villagers flee with just clothes on their back

KUALA KANGSAR, Dec 27 ― Some 250 residents of a secluded village near the Perak River here are reeling in shock over the sudden flood that forced many to escape with little more than what they were wearing.

Recounting the rapid flooding, Kampung Senggang village head Samsudin Abdul Razak, 58, said the last time he witnessed a flood as vicious as the current inundation was nearly half a century ago, in 1967.

“Our village has not experienced such a bad flood since then and many were unprepared for it when the water rose on Wednesday morning so they fled their homes without packing anything,” he said.

The village is located farther inland from the Perak River, but was swamped when the river overflowed into a feeder stream running through the village.

Shamsudin said the diverted waters quickly overwhelmed the stream, forcing the deluge into their homes.

Housewife Leha Kulop Mat Idris, 57, said her family did not manage to rescue any belongings save for the clothes on their back and some essentials for her one-year-old grandson.

“Our village often flood due to rain but the water is not high, just a feet or two, but that day, water came gushing in from the river so we had to grab whatever we can and leave,” she said.

Unlike the low-lying riverside village of Sayong where flood waters rose up to 5m in some areas, over in Senggang, the water level rose up to about 1.5m.

“Fortunately, everyone managed to get to safety with no casualties but many of those affected will be going home to damaged houses and huge losses as everything would have been destroyed by the water,” Samsudin said.

The 250 evacuees in the village are placed in three relief centres ― a mosque, a school and a community hall ― on higher ground away from the river.

Almost 2,000 villagers in Kuala Kangsar, especially from villages near the Perak River, have been evacuated to 12 relief centres all around the small Perak town.

One of the flood relief workers in Senggang, Isa Khalid, 64, praised the many volunteers and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) had gone down to the ground to help affected victims.

“Aid in the form of clothes and food has been coming in for the victims and this is really good as some of the victims here didn't even have a change of clothes,” he said.

As at 8pm yesterday, a total 6,065 people have been evacuated in Perak and a total 100,412 evacuated nationwide due to floods, the worst hit in Terengganu, Pahang and Kelantan.