SK Abang Ali pupils, some accompanied by their parents or guardians, make their way through the floodwater at the end of the school session.
SIBU: A combination of high tide and heavy rain since Sunday night triggered floods in several villages in Sibu town, Kanowit town and other parts of Kanowit yesterday.
Among the villages affected in Sibu were Kampung Datu Lama, Kampung Hilir, Kampung Nangka and parts of Kampung Bandung and Kampung Baharu.
An observation by The Borneo Post yesterday morning found that villagers living along Batang Igan had begun shifting their belongings to higher ground.
Azlan Johari, 51, who lives nearby Hock Ming Jetty at Kampung Hilir, said the water level began rising Sunday night and left his house under about a foot (0.3m) of water.
“The water level actually subsided at dawn, but began rising again around 9am. We tried saving as many belongings as possible because the water level rose very fast,” he said.
Fellow villager Osman Hamid, 59, also had to move his belongings to higher ground after the water level in his house rose to his calves.
A pupil of SK Abang Ali being carried through the floodwater at the end of the school session.
However, the speed at which the water level went up meant that he was unable to salvage some of the items in his house.
“A few of my belongings are already damaged by the flood water. I hope the situation would improve soon,” he said.
A visit to flood-hit SK Abang Ali saw some parents waiting outside the front gate as early as 10.30am to fetch their children home.
One parent, Mohamad Jamil Dollah, said the teachers and staff were stationed at the front gate to ensure the safety of the children leaving the school, where floodwater had risen to about one foot.
Also flooded yesterday were Jalan Khoo Peng Loong, Al-Qadim Islamic Cemetery, Jalan Lanang leading to Sibu town, Jalan Nyatoh, Jalan Dungun, Jalan Ek Dee and sections of the town.
According to data from ihydro.sarawak.gov.my, the telemetry station reading at the express boat terminal here listed the water level at Batang Rajang at a ‘dangerous’ level of 2.64m as at 11am yesterday.
The water level subsided to 2.59m at noon, which was about the time the flood water in some parts of the town began to recede.
Over in Kanowit, local fire chief Arrahman Chik said the Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) had yet to be called upon to carry out any evacuation of flood victims.
According to him, Jalan Lukut-Penyulau was impassable to small vehicles as at 7.20am, while Kanowit town was also inundated under about a foot of water in the morning after the river burst its banks.
A four-wheel-drive vehicle pushes ahead through the flooded stretch of Jalan Ngemah-Poi.
Meanwhile, longhouse residents in Ngemah, Dap and Poi urged the authorities concerned to raise the level of a 50m stretch along Jalan Ngemah-Poi due to it being flood-prone.
One resident, Jamit Bajai, said the stretch in question was flooded by about three feet (0.9m) of water at 10am yesterday, adding he was among many road users who were left stranded there.
“They (authorities) need to find solution to the flood problem at the area,” he said.
Another longhouse resident, Frankie Ayong, noted the said road stretch would be flooded each time a heavy downpour coincided with high tide.
Jalan Ngemah-Poi is part of the 86km Kapit-Song-Kanowit road which will be the only access to Kapit Division once the Ngemah-Temalat section is completed by the end of this year.