Floods: Family uses bassinet to evacuate small children to safe ground

Noorizam Punijan, 52, said she and her six family members had to stay alert after it began raining heavily early yesterday, as her house was close to Sungai Mas.

She and her three children, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren, aged nine months and two years, began relocating to her sibling's house nearby which is on higher ground, at 6 am, after the floodwaters began to rise.

"At about 7 am, the Malaysian Civil Defence Force (MCDF) arrived and informed us that we needed to evacuate seeing that the water was already waist-high.

"We had to place the small children in a bassinet as they (children) were afraid and wanted to be close to their mother.

"We were forced to put them in the bassinet, after which we and several MCDF personnel had to hold on to them," she said when met by reporters at Dewan Kampung Baru Sungai Mas, here, today.

Although a flood victim herself, the housewife had to also perform the duties of the village head, who is performing the Umrah, to supervise the opening of a relief centre.

"We have applied for a transit home for flood victims from the state government, and I hope we get it," she said.

Meanwhile, gardener Muhammad Ehsan Mashood, 63, said he and his family were better prepared this time around after experiencing major floods in the district in 2006.

"During the major flood, the fire brigade arrived as we were trapped. The firemen managed to tie a rope between the lamp posts as the water was fast-flowing, and in this way, we could hold onto the rope, as otherwise we would have been swept away," he said.

During yesterday's flood, he had time to pack important items before he, his wife, children and grandchildren moved to the relief centre.

A survey by Bernama at the village found that the floodwater was receding and residents had started to return to their homes and carry out cleaning-up work.