A section of Jalan Tun Abdul Rahman inundated by flash flood yesterday.
A car is seen in a ditch along road leading to Kampung Pandan in Lundu.
Motorists brave the flood waters at Taman Malihah.
KUCHING: Several parts of the city centre and the road to Lundu experienced flash floods due to the heavy downpour early yesterday morning.
However, the flash floods, according to the Fire and Rescue Department state director Nor Hisham Mohammad were not that serious compared to the floods in the previous week.
“Vehicles were still able to pass through these areas and by noon, the water level has receded,” Nor Hisham said when contacted yesterday.
He said they were actually expecting the flash flood based on the weather forecast which showed that Kuching would be experiencing a heavy downfall throughout the day.
Without the King tide, the water level in the Sarawak River remained at 7 metres, which is still ideal for the monsoon drains to discharge their volume of water effectively, he said.
“If the water level in the river was 8.5 metres, then it will cause a backflow causing the water in the drains to be pushed inland and become stagnant,” he added.
With the water level still around 7 metres, their only concern was to deal with flash floods, he said.
On another note, he said the flash flood at Lorong 13, Taman Malihah in Matang was caused by the ongoing construction of the drainage system.
“The water in the drains can only flow slowly to the river,” said Nor Hisham, adding that they were on stand-by to face the possibility of flood and evacuation this week.
Meanwhile, a section of Jalan Tun Abdul Rahman which was also inundated due to the heavy downpour according to Kuching North City Commission (DBKU) Datuk Bandar Dato Abang Wahap Abang Julai, was due to the blockage of drain outlets.
“We have already identified the areas and the flood happened because of clogged drain outlets,” he said.
He said they would be instructing their contractors to remedy the situation as stipulated in their contract.
He also advised city dwellers to drive more carefully during the rainy season to avoid any untoward incidence.
“Rest assured that DBKU will continue its endeavour to engage with the people to make Kuching a Clean, Beautiful and Safe (CBS) city,” said Wahap referring to their CBS initiative.
Other areas reported to be experiencing the flash flood yesterday were the road leading to Reservoir Park (next to Fata Hotel) and the junction to the Museum Gardens at Jalan P Ramlee.
Several areas in Lundu also experienced flash flood, among them the roads leading to Kampung Pandan and Kampung Semapu.