SHAH ALAM: The Selangor Fire and Rescue Department is fully prepared to face any possibilities of major flood in the state following the high-tide phenomenon.
Its assistant director (operations) Mohd Sani Harul said the department’s assets comprising 45 boats and 20 lorries would be used to help affected residents.
“A total of 1,300 firefighters and rescuers from 32 fire stations in the state are also in the state of full preparedness,” he told Bernama.
At present, he said several coastal and flood-prone areas were being closely monitored.
Mohd Sani also refuted the allegation that they had issued a warning that several areas in the state would be flooded to a depth of 9.4 metres as being viralised in social media.
Meanwhile, Malaysian Fisheries Development Board (LKIM) chairman Datuk Seri Dr Irmohizam Ibrahim said the LKIM had set up a special disaster committee to help local fishermen affected by the high-tide phenomenon yesterday.
“Disaster aid and insurance benefit will be given to the affected fishermen once the committee completed their assessment,” he said in a statement.
Irmohizam, who is Kuala Selangor Member of Parliament, said approximately 40 families in the constituency were affected by floods triggered by the high-tide phenomenon, which also caused floods in 13 other areas in five districts in the state early yesterday.
State Infrastructure and Public Amenities Committee chairman Zaidy Abdul Talib said the high-tide phenomenon had also damaged several bunds, namely in Kampung Sungai Serdang and Pandamaran in Klang; Pantai remis and Kampung Sungai Sembilang in Kuala Selangor; and Kampung Tok Muda in Kapar, Klang.
He said this was because the bunds were only capable of sustaining water flow of up to 5.5-metre high.
“The tide was really high yesterday, reaching over 5.6 metres,” he said, adding that repair works on the bunds, however, had been done by the Department of Irrigation and Drainage. -- Bernama