KUANTAN: Once a thriving tin mining town, Sungai Lembing, near here, is prone to floods almost every monsoon season.
The primary concern is how devastating it would be.
Sungai Lembing is widely known for its flood-prone nature and is often regarded as an indicator of the flood situation in the state capital during the rainy season.
Heavy intermittent rain over the past few days has put the 400-odd residents here on the alert but they are not panicking as all the necessary precautionary measures to face the floods are already in place.
Kampung Melayu Sungai Lembing Development and Security Committee chairman Muhammad Ridzal Sukimi said flood incidents occur nearly every year, especially during the monsoon season.
"There were times when Sungai Lembing was hit by floods three times in a year. Past experience has taught the residents to make early preparations including moving their belongings to a safe place.
"Majority of the residents in the town are aware of the standard operating procedures in case of floods and what they should do while waiting for help to arrive. We have deployed three boats and six four-wheel-drive vehicles to help evacuate the victims to flood relief centres.
"The relief centres namely at Kampung Melayu hall, SMK Sungai Lembing and SJKC Sungai Lembing will be activated in case of floods.
"Basic disaster relief items and food supplies have been stocked up at the forward bases here as usually the main roads will be cut off," he said when met today.
Meanwhile, Ridzal said the people in Sungai Lembing have taken the necessary measures to face the floods including moving their belongings to a higher section of the house.
"Some have raised a certain section of the house to store electrical appliances while others have packed their things in case they need to vacate their homes.
"We regularly send out reminders to the residents through WhatsApp messaging including on the current river water trend.
"Floods in Sungai Lembing is nothing new....usually hours of continuous heavy rain would result in the low-lying areas in the town being submerged and once Sungai Lembing is hit, within the next few hours several parts of Kuantan will be affected too," he said, adding the town was under 2m of water during the floods early this year.
Meanwhile, grocery shop owner Lui Yen Ping, 72, said she had moved most of her supplies to the first floor of her wooden premises.
"Most of the shelves are empty and I only keep a limited supply of things. Hopefully, it does not flood this year but looking at the rainy weather over the past one week, we have to be prepared," she said.
The Sungai Lembing flood mitigation project is among 40 projects approved under the fourth rolling plan of the 12th Malaysian Plan.
When Sultan of Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah visited flooded areas near Sungai Lembing earlier this year, he ordered for the flood mitigation project to be sped up.
Sungai Lembing has a total of 484 residents from 242 families.