The destruction along the banks of Sungai Amang caused by rapid flow of flood water this morning.
KAPIT (Nov 27): Heavy rainfall from 1am to 7am this morning triggered a devastating widespread flooding across the town, affecting both roads and communities on the outskirts.
According to the Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) officer Timoty Barat and Malaysian Civil Defence Force officer Mohamad Noor, the first emergency call came in around 2am.
Additional distress calls followed from residents in several areas, including Kampung Melatai 1, Rumah Dennis Langok, Tatai Kenyalang, government servants’ living quarters, Medical Villa living quarters, Tatai Emas Ruweng, SK Sungai Kapit, and Bukit Goram.
Authorities reported that water levels in the affected areas reached between four to eight feet.
The flash floods also caused hillslope erosion, which further impacted residents in Buluh Perindu and Simpang Utang, Bukit Goram.
Ijau Bengkong, a 70-year-old resident of Kampung Melatai, recounted his harrowing experience to The Borneo Post.
“All seven of us were sleeping in the house when the flash flood occurred,” he said.
Ijau cleaning his house after the floodwater recedes.
“All happened too fast, the water began to rise rapidly and within few minutes, it rose over three feet high and my house was already in a pool of water.
“There wasn’t much time for us to do anything; and the next thing we saw were our furniture, electrical equipment, and mattresses floating in the water.
“It was like a ‘tsunami’. It rose very fast and subsided fast too, within an hour,” he said.
Ijau’s neighbor, 80-year-old Angkol Pak, suggested that the cause of the flood was related to the overflow of a local stream.
“Sungai Selepong – the feeder stream of Sungai Amang – could not hold the sudden excess water, thus overflowing the banks, affecting the houses in the low-lying areas,” he said.
Meanwhile, Rh Dennis Langok, located along Sungai Amang in Selirik, was completely inundated by floodwaters that reached up to six feet high by 5am.
Although the longhouse, built on high ‘belian’ stilts, was not significantly affected, the residents’ parked cars were submerged in the floodwater.
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