SHAH ALAM: A total of 280 flood evacuees at the Dewan Kemuning Utama relief centre, near here faced a night of darkness after electricity supply to the area was cut off at 11pm yesterday.
The evacuees, residents from Taman Bukit Kemuning, Taman Seri Muda and nearby areas had been housed at the centre since 6am on Saturday.
Residents representative, Mohamad Albrahim Chong Shafie, 41, said this was the first time the hall was used as a relief centre and also his first experience as a flood evacuee.
"The water had risen to our calves before in our residential area, but there were houses in my area that were inundated with chest-high floodwaters this time around," he told Bernama.
He said only some of the evacuees at the centre received portable camps for their comfort while the rest were still waiting for assistance to arrive.
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Another evacuee, Amiruddin Savai, 63, said he, along with eight family members, had a harrowing experience when the water rose rapidly, a phenomenon he had never encountered in his 23 years of living there.
"My entire family could not sleep because the water rose so quickly and forcefully during Maghrib prayers (on Dec 17), not stopping till it reached my chest," he said, as he petted his daughter's pet cat that they brought along with them to the centre.
A nurse who had just returned from her hometown in Bagan Serai, Perak, Hayati Halim, 44, said she returned home to her house in Taman Kamelia, Bandar Putera Klang after hearing from her neighbour that the flood at her house was chest-high.
To make things worse, she had to walk for eight hours from a petrol station in Shah Alam to her house as her vehicle broke down while braving the floodwaters.
"I want to see how my house is and am waiting for a boat to enter the area because of the high water level, I want to see what I can salvage," she said.
An earlier check by Bernama at the centre revealed that the area around the centre was also hit by the power outage and there were many trees that had fallen across the roads due to strong winds.
The Bernama team also spotted a Tenaga Nasional Berhad junction box on fire by the side of the road, with thick smoke billowing as they made their way to the relief centre.
Checks also found several flooded roads could only be accessed by four-wheel drive vehicles and heavy vehicles.-- BERNAMA