Non-stop peril: A high platform built to house animals during emergencies was also affected by the flood.
KOTA KINABALU: It was a dramatic day for Adrienne Godfrey Johniu when she had to ensure the safety of 117 cats and dogs as floodwaters kept rising at her animal shelter.
Recalling last Sunday’s flood which struck after a continuous downpour since the afternoon, she said the first thing that came to her mind was: “It is going to flood again.”
Johniu, a widow who runs the Shelter of Hope Penampang, has 64 dogs and 53 cats under her care.
When she saw murky water starting to gush into a stream nearby, she quickly fed all the animals before gathering her four children to assist with carrying and moving the cats and dogs to the upper level of the shelter, which is also her home.
Johniu, 52, carried the weaker dogs first.
Those that could walk well on their own were ordered to follow her to the upper floor of the house. The dogs, she said, understood the instructions.
The water rose quickly. It eventually covered the entire ground floor and almost reached the upper floor of her house.
Johnie said she struggled as it required much strength to deal with the rising water.
“By the time I was done with the dogs, the floodwaters were waist deep and still rising.”
She added she also had to evacuate the 11 cats that were with her on the ground floor.
“With the help of my kids, we waded through the strong current to get the carriers so that we could move the cats without getting them wet and to also avoid injuries to ourselves,” she said.
Johniu said the turmoil led to the cats getting stressed as “some of them started to hiss with their claws out”. She had to spend time calming them down before putting them inside carriers.
When the cats were safe, the next thing to do was to save all the cat and dog food.
“Unfortunately, floodwaters had washed a lot of the food packets away. By then, the floodwaters had come up to shoulder level,” she said.
Her kitchen appliances, washing machine and other belongings were floating around.
Making matters worse, a high platform built to house animals during emergencies was also going to be hit by the flood, so Johniu went up to save them.
Fortunately, she did not have to move all 117 animals as many of them were already on high ground.
Now, her focus is to clean up and rebuild the damaged parts of the house.
“The next morning, the floodwaters was still waist deep. It was only around noon that we were able to start cleaning,” Johniu said.
Her animal shelter in Penampang town has faced a number of floods in a year.
“We are doing this on our own but I am humbly asking for help, for any volunteers for the cleaning process. If there’s any help out there, you may call me at 016-842 9598,” she said.
