KUALA LUMPUR – Several areas in the Klang Valley that were flooded on Monday, such as Kuchai Lama and Jalan Klang Lama, were not within the Smart Tunnel flood mitigation system.
According to The Star report, the Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel (Smart) tunnel was designed to alleviate flash floods in areas here mostly affected by an overflowing Sg Klang during a downpour.
It added that the most recent Klang Valley flash floods were caused by overcapacity of Sg Kerayong, Sg Bunus and Sg Kuyoh, which were out of Smart Tunnel’s coverage area, as well as “extraordinary rainfall” that overwhelmed the drainage systems.
The tunnel operator said it managed to divert more than one million cubic metres of floodwaters on Monday, which used only a third of its four-mode capacity. The mitigation system is able to store three million cubic metres of floodwaters and divert up to five million cubic metres.
In addition, Masjid Jamek, which is within the coverage area, saw rising waters due to the backflow from Sg Gombak and Sg Keroh, and Sg Batu upstream.
On Monday night, Environment and Water Minister Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man blamed the flash floods – the second incident within three months – on “extraordinary rainfall” within a short period of time.
He said the downpour began about 2.30pm, leading to between 106mm to 155mm of rainfall in a mere two hours.
“The flood was caused by extraordinary rain in the span of two hours, overwhelming existing irrigation systems beyond their capacity of high-water flow.”
He said the water level recorded along Sg Gombak near Jalan Tun Razak was at dangerous levels at 31.99m, whereas the water level near the same river in Jalan Parlimen and the Klang River near the Tun Perak bridge was at 30.38m and 30.12m, respectively. – The Vibes, March 10, 2022
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