KK traffic in a standstill after four hours of rain

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LONG QUEUE: Vehicles waited in line for the floodwater to subside. — Photo by Yong Ted Phen

KOTA KINABALU: Close to a thousand vehicles were stranded in a standstill stretching over several kilometres long for hours on end as yesterday’s four hours of lashing rain caused flooding to certain parts of Jalan Tuaran and Jalan Sulaman here.

A section of Jalan Tuaran near the Putra Jaya Apartment in Telipok was under water, rendering it impassable to smaller vehicles.

Some motorists were forced to wait around two hours for the flood to subside before venturing their way cautiously through the knee-deep water.

The downpour started around 8.30am till noon yesterday. A 300-metre stretch of road from the Bandar Sierra Apartment roundabout along Jalan Tuaran-Telipok was flooded, trapping vehicles in a two-kilometre jam.

A motorist, Afizul Andid, 21, who was driving his Perodua Viva from Kampung Ketiau, Putatan to the Telipok Ria Apartment to fetch his girlfriend who works at the City Mall found the road submerged under a foot deep water, making it impassable to his car.

Drivers of a similar class of vehicle were also forced to wait for the flood to subside inside their cars.

Until 2.20pm yesterday, Afizul was still waiting at the same spot for the water to subside. By then, the snarl had built up with hundreds of vehicles trapped in the traffic jam as they could not make it past the vehicles ahead of the queue.

The traffic in front of the Politeknik Kota Kinabalu in Sepanggar was also at a crawl as motorists treaded their way carefully across the flood.