JOHOR BARU: Flash floods brought traffic to a standstill at Jalan Wong Ah Fook and its surrounding areas at noon today.
A total of 20 vehicles were stranded in the major thoroughfare in the city when the area was inundated in 1.5m-deep water following the almost two-hour downpour.
No injuries however were reported.
Johor Baru Selatan police chief Assistant Commissioner Sulaiman Salleh said traffic police helped to divert motorists away from the city centre.
He said all roads heading toward the Johor Baru City Square and the Komtar Johor Baru City Centre (Komtar JBCC) were also closed to traffic at the time.
"The rain was exceptionally heavy from 12pm to 1.30pm. This led to flash floods that inundated the area in 1.5m-deep waters," Sulaiman said.
A Fire and Rescue Services Department spokesman said three people were trapped in their cars, but were later brought to safety.
Firemen also searched a basement car park of a building in Jalan Wong Ah Fook, which was submerged in flood water to check for victims.
The flash flood receded by 2pm.
An office worker at Johor Baru City Square said the water began to rise about noon and she saw police blocking traffic to Jalan Wong Ah Fook.
"Policemen blocked traffic at Jalan Stesen to prevent vehicles from entering Jalan Wong Ah Fook, which was flooded.
"By 2pm, water receded and I could see cars using the road once again," said the worker, who did not want to be named.
The last major flash flood to occur at the same area was on July 31.
Meanwhile, the Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA) said an immediate investigation was being conducted to determine the cause of the flash flood.
"Initial investigations confirm that the floods were not caused by work on the Sungai Segget Rejuvenation Project implemented by IRDA," it said in a statement.
"However, the floods were caused by a combination of two factors - the high tide flows into Johor Baru city centre coupled with the heavy flow of rainwater as a result of the prolonged rain over the past few days as well as the heavy downpour earlier today."
It said that the Sungai Segget Rejuvenation Project was aimed at developing a flood mitigation system in order to avoid such floods in the city centre.
It said the Project's Package 2: Development of Flood Mitigation System and Beautification of Jalan Wong Ah Fook involves the installation of new high capacity pumps.
The pumps were scheduled for installation upon the completion of the project in June 2016
"In the meantime, IRDA has taken immediate steps to install suction pumps as a temporary measure to alleviate the problem," it said.