KUALA LUMPUR – An hour of intense rainfall and thunderstorms throughout midnight caused various housing areas to be inundated by ankle-deep level floodwaters throughout the constituencies of Klang, Shah Alam, Puchong and Sepang.
In a series of tweets by Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari in the wee hours, he had visited Taman Melawis in Klang, which had suffered flooding as a result of the downpour.
“Having arrived at the area at 2am, the water pump at Taman Melawis was functioning well, but the high level of rainfall caused waters to rise and spill into the residential areas.
“Orders have been given to render immediate assistance to the residents,” he tweeted.
Jam 2 pagi saya di pam air Taman Melawis. Pam ini berfungsi dengan baik ketika ini tetapi taburan hujan yang tinggi menyebabkan air naik di kawasan perumahan. Arahan telah diberikan utk bantuan segera kpd para penduduk. pic.twitter.com/CcVBpajlvn
— Amirudin Shari (@AmirudinShari) November 16, 2022
In a subsequent tweet, Amirudin said during the visit, he was joined in by Klang municipal council president Noraini Roslan, the Irrigation and Drainage Department officers, and resident association representatives.
“The flood mitigation project has already been initiated but is currently facing complications. I will be in touch with Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd officials to resolve this matter.
The affected areas are within the KTM Komuter line between its Teluk Gadong, Teluk Pulai and Klang stations.
Jam 2.45 pagi saya turun di Taman Melawis melihat keadaan banjir bersama YDP Majlis Perbandaran Klang, pihak JPS dan persatuan penduduk. Projek tebatan banjir telah dimulakan namun menghadapi kesukaran. Saya akan berhubung dgn pihak KTM esok utk menyelesaikan masalah ini. pic.twitter.com/aAfpKcEbIX
— Amirudin Shari (@AmirudinShari) November 16, 2022
It is learnt that floodwaters receded around 7am.
Meanwhile, in Shah Alam, residents at Taman Sri Muda had reportedly begun to self-evacuate following the threat of rising waters at the Klang river.
Sy terima aduan kenapa pintu air di Sri Muda tidak dibuka. Utk makluman paras air di sebelah Sg Klang masih tinggi & jika pintu air dibuka ianya akan menyebabkan ‘back flow’ serta akan mengakibatkan limpahan air yang lebih kritikal. (1) pic.twitter.com/mHA6zm37xp
— Izham Hashim (@IrIzhamHashim) November 16, 2022
According to the infrastructure and agricultural state exco Izham Hashim, he had received reports that the sluice gate at Sri Muda was not opened during rainfall.
Izham explained while the sluice gate was functional, opening the gate when levels of the Klang river are at their highest would only cause a “back flow” and cause a critical level overflow of water into the residential area.
“The Bomba (Fire and Rescue Department) teams have been stationed to all locations that are affected by the rising waters,” he tweeted.
Meanwhile, in the small town of Dengkil, Sepang, the Sg Langat river bund breached, causing water to overflow into residential areas.
According to Berita Harian, two badly hit areas include Kg Cemperai and Kg Seri Tanjung, forcing residents to relocate to the temporary evacuation centre at Dewan Orang Ramai Dengkil.
Sepang district disaster management committee chairman Khairi Azali said the committee
was monitoring and listing the flood-affected areas throughout the district.
According to him, apart from Kg Cemperai and Kg Seri Tanjung, several other areas were also flooded, including Kg Sg Buah and Jenderam Hilir. – The Vibes, November 17, 2022