By Mustakim Ramli
SHAH ALAM, Dec 22 — Eleven factory workers were forced to break through the ceiling of their home to climb out onto the rooftop as the water level was rising fast at Taman Sri Muda in Section 25, here, on Saturday.
Indonesian worker Amiruddin Yusof, 45, and his 10 other housemates were able to move their belongings in the upper level of the building but were caught up by the rising waters.
“We broke the ceiling and climbed up onto the rooftop at 3am after floodwaters started rising to the second floor,” he told SelangorKini when met at the Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (Tamil) Ladang Emerald temporary relief centre (PPS).
Since they were not able to take any basic necessities along, Amiuriddin said that they had to endure the cold and wet weather before being rescued by firemen.
Amiruddin, who has worked in Malaysia for two years, was upset as he could not save a gold necklace which he bought for his wife who is back in their hometown.
Meanwhile, 24-year-old welder Muhd Azwan Adnan said he had rushed home from work in Lanchong Jaya, Puchong, after he noticed that a nearby river embankment was damaged from the heavy rain.
“Once I arrived home, I immediately informed my parents and two other siblings to evacuate the house as I worry it would be flooded.
“As expected, not long after that, my house was completely submerged. We cannot save anything, not even one thing,” he said.
On December 19, Environment and Water Ministry (Kasa) secretary-general Datuk Seri Zaini Ujang said the heavy downpours that lasted over 24 hours beginning late Friday (December 17) was equal to the average rainfall for a month in Klang Valley.
He said the phenomenon, which is a one in 100-year weather event, occurred due to monsoon flow factors and a low-pressure weather system that achieved the level of a tropical depression that formed in the South China Sea.
