PENAMPANG: Ronnie Muda, 44, is taking two days off work to help his parents clean up their flood-hit home in Kampung Kambau, here, where waters had risen quickly to waist level in a mere couple of hours, on Tuesday.
Ronnie’s parents’ home for the past 50 years was inundated after incessant rainfall since Sunday and the alleged release of spill-over water from the Babagon Dam, along with hundreds of other houses in the district of Penampang.
A visit to Kampung Dambau, which was one of the worst-hit areas when a huge flood inundated most parts of Penampang on Thursday, saw that most residents were still busy sweeping off dirt-filled water and mud from the grounds of their homes, as of noon yesterday.
“The water rose too quickly for us to salvage everything on the ground floor. That includes our kitchen stove and other utensils. Everything just went floating in a matter of hours. We had to dispose many of our furniture and household items,” said Ronnie’s mother, Ainah Luping, 72.
Ainah, who resides in the said house with her husband, Jolison Muda, 72, located just next to the Moyog River said that Tuesday’s flood was the worst in 15 years.
“The worst flood we experienced was during a La Nina episode in 1999. This was the worst since then,” she said, adding that she was warned by a friend residing in Moyog, at about 10 am yesterday, telling her and her family to take heed as spill-over water from the Babagon Dam was being released.
Ronnie said that water from the said dam should have been released gradually earlier after the incessant rain.
“After it rained continuously for a couple of days, the river water level had reached as high as the road surface. That should have been a warning sign to start releasing water gradually instead of waiting until yesterday (Tuesday) to do so, when it was high tide,” said Ronnie.
Jessica Fredarick, 32, together with three of her siblings and a brother-in-law, were busy shovelling off ankle-deep mud from the grounds of their family home, when met in Kampung Kambau yesterday.
Jessica also concurred that the flood on Tuesday was the worst they have experienced since the one in 1999, and that they too heard release of spill-over water from the Babagon Dam had accelerated the water currents and worsened the flood situation.
Her brother-in-law, Chris, 28, opined that better drainage and irrigation in the state will at least reduce the amount of damage caused by the flood.
“To completely eliminate possibilities of flood may not be rational, but at least, a more strategic drainage and irrigation system would really help reduce the damage,” said Chris.
The residents in Kampung Kambau also had to clean up their homes without power supply as well as insufficient water supply.
The flood reached as far as Kampung Tunoh, located off Jalan Nosoob Hungab, where its access bridge road was badly damaged due to the flood’s strong currents.
Residents affected by the flood were also seen busy sorting out their belongings as they clean up the mess left behind by the flood.
Dora Chiew, 58, who was helping her ailing elder sister suffering from a heart disease clean up the flood aftermath, said that she had to rent a sizeable rubbish bin at RM120 per day, to dispose off their damaged items.
“We have to fork out our own money to pay for the losses,” lamented Dora.
Dora’s nephew, Moses Joluis, 29, whose home was also affected by the flood had to leave work early on Tuesday after he was informed of the flood by his wife, 28-year-old Betsy Tendahal.
“The water started accumulating inside the house at about 1 pm and by 4 pm, it reached knee-deep. The situation outside was much worse, where even the access bridge and the road was inundated.
“Children were seen trying to get home by using ropes. Thankfully nothing happened,” said Moses and Betsy.