In safe hands: Anuar carrying Muhammad Afiq Danish to a temporary flood relief centre at SK Taman Bukit Mutiara accompanied by Norazila.
JOHOR BARU: Anuar Salleh has hoped for some rest for his son after a circumcision during the school holidays.
But he had reckoned without the weather.
The 39-year-old father of two, who works as a security guard, said it had started raining heavily on Tuesday morning.
“But we decided to go ahead with our plan to circumcise our son Muhammad Afiq Danish as it was the school holidays.
“We felt he would have time to heal before the new school session starts on March 19,” he said.
Annuar had just returned from the clinic after the circumcision when the water started rising at their Kampung Paya Kenangan home here.
“After returning from the clinic in the late afternoon, I put my son to bed as he was tired and sleepy,” he said.
“As he was resting, I felt that something bad might happen soon as I realised the heavy rain did not show any signs of stopping.
“At about 8pm, my village chief and some firemen came knocking on my door and told me to evacuate immediately.
“They said the water was rising fast,” he said when met at the SK Taman Bukit Mutiara relief centre here yesterday.
The safety of his young children was the only thing on Anuar’s mind then.
Anuar, who also has a six-year-old daughter, and his wife Norazila Mohd Nazri, 34, who works as a factory operator, decided to move out of their house.
He could only carry his son’s new school books and uniforms to the relief centre as he hadn’t made preparations to evacuate.
“I carried my son in the rain as he could not walk.
“We were only able to take Muhammad Afiq’s belongings, as the rest of our items, including clothes, were still at our home.
“I then returned to my house to see if I could salvage something.
“When I arrived, the water level was up to my chest.
“Everything was gone, including my furniture,” he added.
Anuar said that Kampung Paya Kenangan was a flood-prone area as it was located on the banks of Sungai Tebrau.
He has lived in the village for over 10 years and had never seen anything like yesterday’s flood.
In Segamat, Yong Peng firemen had to step in for their Labis colleagues to evacuate flood victims in Chaah after Jalan Labis-Chaah, near here, was cut off by floodwaters.
Labis fire and rescue station chief Muhammad Hafifie Md Sarif said his men were supposed to evacuate the victims but could not reach the area as the road became impassable to traffic.
“The rescue mission went ahead, thanks to the Yong Peng fire and rescue station and volunteer firefighters from Chaah.
“Heavy rain has caused many areas to be inundated, and the number of victims trapped by floodwaters is expected to increase.
“Work to evacuate flood victims is continuing, and the road links to several areas have been cut off, including Kampung Tenang, Pekan Air Panas, and Kampung Juaseh,” he said, according to Bernama.
Muhammad Hafifie said the Labis firemen were then deployed for rescue work in Labis.
The town of Labis and its surrounding areas, as well as several housing estates, were flooded to a depth of one metre.
Firemen evacuated 209 families, comprising 746 people, to six flood relief centres in Labis.
As of 2pm yesterday, 6,694 flood victims had been moved to 63 relief centres in seven districts, according to the state disaster management committee.
