Teacher braves floods to save examination papers

DENGKIL: "I was only thinking of my students' final year examination papers that were still in the house," said a teacher whose house in Kampung Chemperai, here, was flooded following heavy rain today.

Ruzita Che Him, 52 who is a Form Two teacher at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Bukit Changgang, Banting and her husband, Baharuddin Mohd Yonan, 61, braved about 600 metres of waist-high floodwaters to rescue the answer sheets which took them approximately an hour.

Recounting the anxious moment, Ruzita said she felt uneasy when she had to leave her house this morning without taking the answer sheets for the Geography subject with her.

"When I left this morning, I took with me the examination papers for the Design and Technology subject and only managed to put the Geography answer sheets in a higher place.

"Alhamdulillah, I managed to save them," she said.

Describing the flood incident as the worst compared to previous years, Ruzita said today's incident was the most unnerving experience for her since becoming an educator in 1996.

"This is my first experience wading through floodwaters. Of course, I will never forget this. What is more important is that everything is safe," said the Kelantan-born teacher.

The non-stop downpour since yesterday afternoon caused several residential areas around Kota Warisan and Dengkil in Sepang to be heavily flooded which caused Sungai Langat to overflow.

Meanwhile, Sepang district police chief ACP Wan Kamarul Azran Wan Yusof said six relief centres have been opened since noon at Bandar Baru Salak Tinggi and Dengkil to house the flood victims.

Five routes in the Sepang district have to be closed temporarily to all vehicles, among others, Jalan Labu to Taman Dataran Abadi, Jalan Kota Warisan to Bandar Baru Salak Tinggi and Jalan Bukit Changgang to Bandar Baru Salak Tinggi.

-- BERNAMA