Flash floods: Bomba focused on relocating victims from Jalan Desa Wira
KUCHING: The Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) and other rescue services are concentrated on relocating individuals affected by the flash floods at Jalan Desa Wira in Batu Kawa here.
Bomba said as at 9am yesterday, they had received a total of six emergency calls.
“Efforts are underway to bring these victims to the temporary flood relief centre (PPS) at Dewan Kampung Sinar Budi Baru,” it said in a statement.
At the scene yesterday were firefighters from the Padungan, Kota Samarahan and Petra Jaya Bomba stations.
As observed yesterday morning, the floodwater level in the area appeared to be stagnant.
Bomba said the heavy rain, which had been pouring since midnight, had resulted in the floods hitting the houses at Kampung Sinar Budi Baru and Taman Desa Wira at 4am.
“Because of the sudden rise in floodwaters, many residents were caught off-guard. Their house were inundated, at least under two feet of water.
“The floodwater had also cut off main routes leading to Taman Desa Wira, which caused a standstill at the traffic light intersection of Jalan Batu KawaJalan Desa Wira.
“The turn towards MJC (Batu Kawah Township) in front of McDonald’s Batu Kawa was also struck by the flash floods, causing traffic jams along Jalan Stephen Yong, Jalan Tan Sri Datuk Amar Wee Boon Ping and Jalan Datuk Bandar Mustapha,” it added.
In other areas across Kuching Division, the floodwater level in Kampung Segong in Bau and Jalan Rantau Panjang Biawak in Lundu was reported to be slowly receding.
However, the areas currently facing stagnant water included Kampung Sungai Bedil in Petra Jaya, Sebang Plai in Serian, as well as Taman Beverly and Taman Duranda Emas in Siburan.
KUCHING: Residents must not hesitate should they be ordered to evacuate their homes during flash floods, said Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas.
The State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman acknowledged that there were cases where individuals refused to leave their properties.
“When heavy rain occurs, our disaster management machinery is immediately mobilised. When there are orders to evacuate, they (the residents) must evacuate at once (because) we don’t know the severity of the floods.
“We want to ensure their safety.
“Our main priority is to ensure that there will not be any unwanted incidents occurring.
“In Kuching, it is easy because there are roads available for the machinery and equipment to be mobilised. It’s just that the residents need to be ready in case they are ordered to evacuate.
“We understand that when (the residents) are evacuating, they may feel some discomfort – maybe they’re afraid to leave their houses.
“However, we’ve informed the police to monitor the houses to prevent further unwanted incidents,” he told reporters when met during his visit to a temporary flood relief centre (PPS) at Taman Malihah multipurpose hall in Matang area here yesterday.
Following the flash floods that struck early yesterday, Uggah said all agencies involved in the divisional and district-level disaster management committees here had been mobilised.
“SDMC is preparing to set up more flood relief centres.
“When there’s heavy rain, we’ve already gazetted flood relief centres; for now, we only need to prepare for it.
“Instructions have been given early on that during this monsoon season, we must be prepared to set up all relief centres and food centres. Food is important because we must ensure that they (evacuees) are provided with food as soon as possible.
“That’s why we have readyto-eat food packs, which we can use immediately while waiting for more food supplies to be prepared.”
As of 6pm yesterday, there are eight PPS opened throughout Kuching.
They are Dewan Kampung Segong in Bau, Dewan R-Piang Kampung Sinar Budi Baru, Dewan Masyarakat Stapok, Taman Malihah multipurpose hall, Balai Raya Kampung Senibung in Bau, SK Pasir Tengah in Lundu, SJKC Chung Hua Batu Kawa and SJKC Chung Hua Sungai Tengah.