However, when her family evacuated their home on Nov 20, little did she expect it would be their longest stay ever at the relief centre.
"It has been almost 20 days now and we do not know when the flood will subside. Most of our furniture have already been damaged by the flood waters," she said when met at the Pusat Rakan Sukan flood relief centre (PPS) in Tanah Merah.
Nor Salawati, a mother of six, is among 147 flood evacuees from 36 families who are still taking shelter at this PPS due to the 'banjir termenung' phenomenon.
Another 55 people from 19 families in Pendang district are taking shelter at Dewan Cenderawasih.
Although she was grateful for all the help rendered at the PPS, Nor Salawati said they hoped to return home as soon as possible.
"My kids are already bored because we have been here for too long now. But we have to accept the fact that this is the safer place to be for now," she said.
Another evacuee from Kampung Banggol Besi, Che Rahmah Othman, 38, is having sleepless nights worrying about how to foot the bill to replace damaged furniture and repair their home.
"My husband has been going back to check on the house and I am saddened when told that many of the furniture and appliances are damaged due to the prolonged floods.
"Besides that, a number of zinc roofing have been blown away by strong winds, and I am worried how to raise enough money to replace them since my husband is earning a small income," she said.
Che Rahmah said she could not tell how long they would have to remain at the PPS since the water level has yet to subside due to the daily rainfall.
Checks at the village showed part of an access road to the village and a number of houses near the Muda Agriculture Development Authority (Mada) irrigation canal still submerged.
Meanwhile, Mada chairman Ahmad Tarmizi Sulaiman said heavy downpour from Oct 17 to Nov 2 with average rainfall of between 157mm and 331mm had caused flooding in the Pendang area.
This, he said, was compounded by the high tide phenomenon between Nov 4 and 7, which further derailed the flowing of flood waters to the sea.