KUANTAN: Each time it rains heavily, father-of-two Azhar Othman will start making preparations to evacuate and move his family to a nearby relief centre.
The 63-year-old's wooden house at Kampung Gudang Rasau here is located in a flood prone area and several hours of heavy downpour, will see his house turning into an island surrounded by flood waters.
Azhar described it as nothing unusual, explaining that in the event of continuous heavy rain, the settlement will be flooded.
"When I notice the rising water level, my family will make preparations to move to the nearby relief centre. My house is located in a lowland area and the water will rise rapidly so we have to be prepared to move out fast.
"My house is located about 300m from Sungai Belat and usually continuous rain during the monsoon season will result in overflowing water from the river to submerge the low-lying areas in the settlement," he said when met today.
Azhar said he will usually move his family to a safer place before flood waters enter their house, fearing they might be trapped if they choose to remain indoors as the water level is usually unpredictable.
Meanwhile, the clear skies and sunny weather today brought some relief to the people in the state capital after two days of continuous downpour which resulted in flash floods at various parts of Kuantan yesterday.
However, no evacuation was required as the water receded within an hour at several areas and no relief centres were opened here.
As of 8am today, the Welfare Department's Info Bencana portal reported that two districts namely Jerantut and Maran were hit by the second wave of floods since yesterday.
A total of 67 people - 56 in Maran and 11 in Jerantut - from 26 families have been moved to three relief centres with two operating in Maran and one in Jerantut respectively.
Meanwhile, Sungai Belat at Sri Damai in Kuantan, which surpassed the danger level of 5m yesterday recording a water level of 5.13m, had dropped to the warning level at 4.69m today.
As of 8.45am, three rivers in Pahang have breached the danger level namely Sungai Luit at Kampung Subuh in Maran, Sungai Pahang at Kuala Tembeling and Sungai Pahang at Jerantut Ferry in Jerantut.