Residents of Kg Seberang Batu Badak invest in boats for floods

SEGAMAT: Believing in the Malay proverb "sediakan payung sebelum hujan" (prepare an umbrella before the rain), residents of Kampung Batu Badak here are prepared for the floods with most homes equipped with a fibreglass boat.

Their investment was not in vain, as when the disaster struck, they were able to save their property and loved ones.

Rubber tapper Mohammad Yahaya, 49, said he bought his boat and the engine for about RM8,000 a few years ago so that he could move his family and neighbours to higher ground during the floods.

"Our village and Sungai Muar River in about one kilometre apart, so when the river overflows, our house will be flooded.

"As we live near the river, flood is normal. All we have to do is to always be prepared," he said when met by Bernama here.

Mohammad said the major floods he had experienced in the village was in 2006 and 2011.

"The situation then was worse that this (current flood) because the water rose to above the roofs of the house. Most of the house were submerged in the floods then and the flood water took so long to recede.

"It took a month for the situation to return to normal," he added.

A Bernama survey in the village found most ares still flooded, with most of the boats still at the Jambatan Seberang Batu Badak.

Some of the boat owners have set up tents in the area to keep watch over the boats.

-- BERNAMA