20 families almost swept away when river banks collapse

About 100 people from 20 families in Kampung Tikat, Jalan Pantai Cahaya Bulan here were nearly swept away when the river banks on which their houses were located, collapsed early yesterday.

The houses were badly damaged after floods hit the area about 1am.

One of the victims, Abdul Halim Yusof, 40, who lived with his wife and five children aged between three and 15, said they were fast asleep when they heard a loud crash, only to find the house beginning to lean to one side.

"I led my family out of our house and waded through darkness to safety. It's a pity this is a new house built under the People Housing Project (PPRT) by the federal government, costing RM45,000," the Raja Perempuan Zainab II Hospital staff told Bernama at the scene of the incident.

Another victim, Raja Pisah Raja Soh, 68, said he was alone in the house when the water swept in.

"I was awakened by my nephew, Raja Azlan's calls, who swam to my house to rescue me," he said.

Raja Pisah said he incurred about RM150,000 in losses as almost all his belongings were swept away.

Meanwhile in PASIR MAS, residents in Rantau Panjang described the floods as the worst in 10 years as the entire area was inundated by between one and three metres of water which overflowed the Sungai Golok.

Many of the business premises in Rantau Panjang town, especially the duty-free zone was flooded in the past three days.

Several dozen cars were also destroyed in the flood as the water rose very fast, catching the people unawares.

Speaking to Bernama, Mohd Noor Jaafar, 57, said the water began to rise at 10pm on Wednesday and in three hours, the water level exceeded 1.5 metres.

"We did not manage to save our belongings and all our electrical appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines, television sets and furniture are under water.

Another victim, Mohd Zin Abdullah, 61, said the flood virtually paralysed the entire Rantau Panjang town and electricity supply was cut off for two days ago.

"Luckily for me and my family, I have a double-storey house and we need not have to evacuate," he said.

In TUMPAT, the Pengkalan Kubor marine police are busy patrolling Sungai Golok to look out for smugglers amidst the confusion of floods in the Malaysian-Thai border area.

Pengkalan Kubor marine police commanding officer ASP Mohd Nawi Yunus said the police were conducting round-the-clock patrols in the past three days, he told reporters here when assisting flood victims to evacuate.

Meanwhile, Mohd Nawi said marine police were working with Tumpat police to secure the homes of flood victims in the area.