KUALA LUMPUR, March 16 — Heavy rain and strong winds uprooted trees and blew off roofs in several parts of Wangsa Maju this afternoon.

The hour-long thunderstorm which started around 3pm toppled a number of trees — which fell on vehicles parked alongside the roads, fortunately no injuries or casualty was reported.

Malay Mail spoke to residents of Wangsa Maju who were caught off guard as the thunderstorm came without warning during a time when Malaysia is not currently experiencing rough weather, brought typically by the monsoon season.

Retiree Ahmad Abdul, 67, who lives in Seksyen 2 said he was lucky as his son-in-law had just removed his car that was parked under a tree.

“Just 30 minutes after he removed my car, there was an uprooted tree right where I earlier parked.

“Two years ago an uprooted tree fell on my Proton Wira and it cost me RM2,000 to have it fixed,” he said.

Ahmad, who has been living here for 27 years, said he had previously made several complains to Kuala Lumpur City Hall regarding the trees.

“I called DBKL many times, I told them to cut the trees in the area. These are really big and old trees. I knew that if it continues to pour heavily and there are thunderstorms, the trees would definitely cause damages to the residents’ properties,” he said.

Lecturer Muhammad Alwasi Ya-kub, 29, who lives in Seksyen 1, said he was at home watching television when the storm started.

“It was so loud and scary so I did not dare turn on any electrical appliances including the television. I even switched off my handphone. It felt like the storm was going on forever,” he said.

Project manager Mohamad Hafiz Mohamed Nassir, 30, was about to leave the Wangsa Walk Mall when the thunderstorm hit.

“I had to wait until the storm subsided before getting into my car. Along the way home, I saw a lot of fallen trees and some parts of the road were inundated. It was a mess.

“I think this was the shortest, most powerful storm I have witnessed since moving here three years ago,” he said.

People also took to social media to share the pictures of the devastating aftermath such as blown away roofs and videos of the thunderstorm.

The storm also blew off a huge portion of the roof at SK Danau Kota 1 as seen in pictures that went viral.