We could only watch our property destroyed, says victim

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The condition of Andison’s family home after the flood.

PENAMPANG (Sept 19): “The water rose quickly, and within minutes, it was already at the level of my chest,” recounted 65-year-old Asin Yumpoh of the recent massive flooding in Sugud near here.

Clad in an orange t-shirt which he borrowed from a family member, Asin said that he feels lost and traumatized by the incident.

“I wanted to salvage some things, but the current was so strong. It was impossible to do anything. We only watched as the water rose.

“And as the water rose, one of my children’s car rose with it, and then another car … we could only watch. We wanted to do something but the water current was so strong,” he said.

Asin added that the cars were found piled up by the river after the flood.

He said the recent flood had been very costly – his family lost three cars altogether, not to mention the furnishings that were inside his house during the untoward event.

“We lost everything, even our clothes, our refrigerators, television, pots and pans.

“So, even when we’re given food, we can’t cook because our pots and pans are gone. We can’t keep food (from spoiling) because our refrigerators are gone.”

Fortunately, their dwelling was located on higher ground, he added.

“There were many who lived on lower ground. They suffered the brunt of the rising flood water,” he said.
Water supply is one of the issues facing his family, he said.

“The water meter was ripped off during the flood … I am waiting for the Water Department to come,” he said.

Asin

Another Sugud resident, Andison Denis, said that the place where he lived with his wife and children suffered a lot of damage during the flood.

The walls of his family’s single-storey domain were ripped open during the flood. All the furnishings within were now totally useless and covered in mud.

Aside from the lack of tap water supply, he said that they also have no electricity.

In any case, it would probably be perilous to have electricity supply with many of the electrical devices, including the electrical sockets, having been drenched in water a few days earlier, he noted.

Some homes have installed solar panels for their power supply.

The flash floods last Wednesday following hours of heavy rain left a trail of destruction in Kota Kinabalu, Penampang and Putatan districts.  It also caused landslides, damaged roads, houses and cars.

A car wrecked by the flood sits near Andison’s house. There are many scenes like this in Sugud.

A 25-year-old woman, her eight-month-old daughter and a five-year-old girl were killed in a landslide at Forest Hill in Penampang.

The state government has set up a special committee headed by Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin to look find out the actual causes of the increase in the number of natural disasters, particularly the frequent flash floods after heavy rain.

He also did not rule out the possibility that the ongoing Pan Borneo Highway project was one of the factors behind the worsening flood situation.

The Kota Kinabalu Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry and politicians have appealed to the federal and state governments to expedite the implementation of the Greater Kota Kinabalu Flood Prevention Plan to resolve the perennial flooding in the state capital and outlying areas.