KUALA LUMPUR – The latest round of flash floods in the city today had fully receded by early evening, but not without causing major traffic disruptions in eight areas earlier, according to the Kuala Lumpur Fire and Rescue Department.
The department said it received a distress call at 3.51pm and sent staff to monitor eight areas in and around Kuala Lumpur to monitor the situation.
“After 30 minutes of personnel being on scene, the water level went down completely and lighter vehicles could go through the roads,” it said in a statement.
The affected areas included:
- Jalan Segambut Dalam, Kg Masjid;
- Jalan Sentul Pasar Dalam;
- Jalan Maarof, Bangsar;
- Sprint Highway at Lembah Pantai;
- Jalan Kuching;
- PSN Beruas, Bukit Damansara;
- Jalan Kasipillay; and
- Jalan Parlimen
Earlier, traffic authorities and the public took to social media to report major traffic build-ups in and around the city after water levels began rising quickly following a heavy downpour this afternoon.
Kuala Lumpur City Hall’s Integrated Transport Information System shared at 3.41pm that the city centre was experiencing heavy downfall and floods in certain locations.
It also posted snapshots depicting inundated vehicles and traffic jams piling up at roads along Jalan Parlimen, Jalan Semantan and Jalan Travers.
Lokasi terjejas teruk oleh Banjir Kilat. #kltu pic.twitter.com/OdHdwPDGde
— ITIS DBKL (@ITIS_TRAFIK) April 25, 2022
Taking to Twitter, user @effi_fazril tagged Lembah Pantai MP Fahmi Fadzil in a post of a video showing rubbish debris floating in muddy water, allegedly near the Maybank Tower in Pudu.
Yb @fahmi_fadzil tolong tengok sini. Banjir depan menara maybank pic.twitter.com/7gtbWCkyni
— Effi Fazril ?????? (@effi_fazril) April 25, 2022
Twitter user @eazeyezranni also called out government officials in his post, claiming that this is the fourth time his home in Taman Maluri is experiencing floods.
Aku tak tau nak cakap apa dah@IsmailSabri60 @RinaMohdHarun @mynadma bila korang nak aware benda ni wei? Tahun ni je dah 3 ke 4 kali banjir kilat macam ni
— Azwan AR (@eazeyezranni) April 25, 2022
Anak pun sampai nak trauma dah. Aku kemain speeding dari Kelana Jaya ke rumah sbb banjir kilat ni ?? nak raya wei pic.twitter.com/1jnX82XpZa
“When will Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Datuk Seri Rina Harun and the National Disaster Management Agency become aware of this (floodings)?” the post read.
“Even my child is traumatised and I had to speed home from Kelana Jaya because of the flash floods. Raya is coming soon.”
Facebook user Geoffrey Yeo posted a video of a flooded Jalan Maarof in Bangsar here, with commenters expressing their surprise at how the area could be inundated.
Fahmi Fadzil similarly shared a video of traffic jams at Jalan Maarof heading towards Mid Valley as well as flash floods at the Abdullah Hukum apartments opposite the shopping centre.
Apartmen Abdullah Hukum across from Midvalley - flash flood pic.twitter.com/gH7ooyyPGK
— Fahmi Fadzil ??? (@fahmi_fadzil) April 25, 2022
The Malaysian Meteorological Department at 2.40pm today had issued a thunderstorm warning for areas in Perlis, Kedah, Penang, Perak, Kelantan and Pahang.
Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Putrajaya, Negri Sembilan, Melaka, Johor, Sarawak and Sabah were also warned of strong winds, heavy rain and lightning. – The Vibes, April 25, 2022