TEMERLOH – The “teh tarik”-coloured floodwaters engulfing the town of Mentakab in the Temerloh district seemed to have swallowed all traces of human civilisation.
An aerial survey by Bernama with the Fire and Rescue Department Air Unit found that the 10,000-ha town located in the heart of Pahang Darul Makmur seemed to have disappeared due to the massive floods that struck on Sunday.
Despite two days of sunny weather, there is no sign that the floodwaters will recede quickly.
Mentakab resident Sarimah Derami, 57, who had lost all her belongings to floods in January this year when her house in Bangau Tanjung was submerged, said since then, she would feel fear whenever heavy rainfall hit the town.
“Every time it rains heavily for more than two hours, the water will rise. How long do we have to go through all this? Everything in the house is not yet one year old,” she lamented.
Sarimah said that in January, the area was flooded after five days of heavy rain compared to two days of continuous rainfall that caused the recent floods.
“I hope that better measures can be implemented to tackle the flood problem in Mentakab,” she said today.
In January, the town of Temerloh was submerged under floodwaters due to the monsoon season.
As of 10am today, a total of 34,390 people were housed at 245 temporary flood relief centres statewide.
Meanwhile, Saharudin Othman, 44, who refused to wallow in grief, turned the disaster into an opportunity to generate income for his family.
The entrepreneur took up fishing with a net along Sg Semantan and sells his catch to the residents in the surrounding area.
“My housing area in Kg Lompat, Mentakab is also flooded but I cannot just sit around because I need to feed my family,” he added.
He said he was grateful that he could generate up to RM400 a day by selling his catch including “ikan patin” (silver catfish).
Saharudin also expressed his gratitude for the assistance extended to the residents by rescue personnel and non-governmental organisations as well as for the contributions they received from ordinary Malaysians. – Bernama, December 24, 2021
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