City folk stuck in heavy traffic after parts of KL submerged
PETALING JAYA: What was supposed to be a half-hour drive for KC Lee to reach his office in Kuala Lumpur turned into a 90-minute crawl after roads leading to the city centre were inundated with floods following a heavy morning downpour.
Thousands faced the same frustrating situation yesterday.
“I usually leave my house at about 8.15am daily and would have a rather smooth journey. But today, I noticed it was unusually heavy.
“It was already raining then and I just thought people were driving more cautiously due to the downpour.
“Halfway through the journey, however, traffic continued moving at a snail’s pace near Jalan Parlimen.
“Soon, my phone was ringing with messages from colleagues mentioning that roads were flooded.“Only once I reached that stretch of road did I realise how bad the situation was,” said the 29-year-old, adding that he ended up reaching the office late due to this.
Lee was among the many motorists left stranded after Kuala Lumpur was brought to a halt due to flash floods early yesterday morning.
Writer Mohd Junaidi, 34, said he had initially planned to take public transportation to his workplace yesterday morning but later opted to drive as the bus stop near his house was unsheltered.
“It was about 8am at the time and the rain was already pouring. I managed to reach my workplace on time.
Stuck in a gridlock: Parts of the old Bank Rakyat building vicinity at Jalan Tangsi being submerged in floodwaters, as seen from the DBKL building. — Photo courtesy of DBKL
“But about 20 minutes later, I learnt that the same road I used was completely flooded, causing a big crawl,” he said.
“However, I was not spared from being drenched, as the car park near my office is unsheltered and the strong winds made it difficult to avoid the splashing rains,” he said.
According to Kuala Lumpur City Hall, the affected roads were Jalan Pantai Baharu, Jalan Parlimen, Jalan Kinabalu, Jalan Maharajalela, Jalan Travers, Jalan Damansara, Jalan Ledang and Jalan Segambut.
Also affected were stretches along Jalan Genting Klang, Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah and Jalan Sultan.
Footage of several cars being submerged by the floods at a stretch along the Middle Ring Road 2 highway also made its rounds on social media.
Severe flooding also occurred at the roads leading to Universiti Malaya’s Kuala Lumpur gate, reaching a waist-level height.
Alarm sirens were activated due to the floods.
Flash floods also occurred along the LDP highway between Bandar Utama and Taman Tun Dr Ismail.
The SMART Tunnel was also closed for flood operations yesterday before being reopened at about 3.40pm.
The heavy downpour also saw a kindergarten in Hulu Kelang inundated with knee-high floodwaters.
The 21 preschoolers in the area were seen mounting classroom tables to escape the floods.
The children and teachers were later rescued by Fire and Rescue Department personnel.
A national school and four houses in the area were also affected by the floods, with residents instructed to relocate to a nearby community hall.
Operations of the Kelana Jaya Light Rail Transit line were also disrupted after tracks between the Sri Rampai and Wangsa Maju stations became flooded.
It was later reopened for service at 3.30pm yesterday.
The rains also led to Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul calling for a temporary halt to Parliament proceedings as several MPs were stuck in floods.
