GEORGE TOWN: Hundreds of trees were uprooted in more than 250 locations statewide in the powerful storm which struck the state on Friday night.
Many of the trees crashed onto buildings and cars, causing severe damage. Others fell onto roads, leading to gridlock.
State Housing and Local Government Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo said 180 trees were uprooted in 129 locations on the island, while 152 trees tumbled in 123 locations on the mainland.
He said both the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) and the Seberang Prai Municipal Council (MPSP) cleared up over 90 per cent of the fallen trees overnight.
“Work is still ongoing. Our priority is the primary roads, to ensure that traffic is not disrupted, before moving on to secondary roads.
“We hope to complete the rest by later today,” he said during a visit to the Iconic Vue affordable housing project, this morning.
Present were MBPP mayor Datuk Yew Tung Seang and MPSP president Datuk Rozali Mohamud.
Penang was hit by the tail end of Typhoon Lekima late last night, which generated heavy rains and strong winds of 180km per hour.
Perlis, Langkawi and Kedah were also struck by the typhoon.
Jagdeep urged property owners affected by the storm to lodge police reports immediately, to enable them to receive assistance from the state’s Tabung Bencana TYT.
Meanwhile, Yew said that despite a section of a pedestrian bridge in Green Lane collapsing in the storm, the overall structure is still intact.
“We have removed a tree which had fallen on the canopy structure,” he added.
Both Yew and Rozali assured ratepayers that their teams are on the ground and working round-the-clock to clear the mess left by the typhoon.
Earlier, Jagdeep said two temporary relief centres were opened in Seberang Prai Tengah and one in the northeast district, housing more than 50 people whose houses were damaged.
In ALOR STAR, the Kedah Fire and Rescue Department said that 10 people were injured in the storm last night.
The department’s Operations and Rescue Division assistant director Mohamadul Ehsan Mohd Zain added that many trees had reportedly fallen in Kota Setar, Sungai Petani, Baling and Langkawi.