Peter points to the empty chicken coop.
BAU: The flood that hit Kampung Suba Buan here has left the villagers suffering huge losses as they could not save their household equipment, livestock and crops.
The village was flooded from Wednesday to Friday with the water level at 3.6 metres at its height, leaving the main road and most houses completely inundated.
The village and others such as Stass and Serikin were cut off from the outside world due to the flood.
“My house was completely under water, save for the roof top. I sought shelter at my brother’s two-storey house nearby,” said Redomas Siin, 50, when met yesterday while cleaning his house of debris.
He lamented that the flood had left him with huge damage to his electricity meter, furniture and electrical appliances.
His brother, Peter, 57, said the water completely flooded the lower part of his house, leaving him to deal with damaged goods and dead livestock.
“Even the doors are damaged. I lost 30 of my chickens kept inside a coop, while my ducks and fish are gone, literally swimming away with the flood waters.”
Peter said most villagers living in low-lying areas of the village took shelter at their neighbours’ houses located on higher grounds. There was no evacuation centre to relocate the affected villagers.
His wife Muna Oteng, meanwhile, lamented that the losses suffered were unbearable as she did not expect the flood to hit the village hard.
“Although our house is built on higher ground, the water managed to reach the first floor. We are lucky as the water did not reach the top.”
Meanwhile, a committee member of the village’s St Lawrence Ruiz Church, Karim Lidek, said they (members) had taken the initiative to evacuate the affected villagers to higher ground using boats.
“We had to do it ourselves as assistance from the relevant agencies involved could not come due to the high water. I can only hope that the government through the related agencies can help us,” he added.
When contacted, Tasik Biru assemblyman Datuk Henry Harry Jinep said there was indeed no evacuation centres set up in the village as the village hall and the operation room were all inundated.