Penangites in fear again

Heavy downpour and strong winds may bring another round of natural disaster to the island

GEORGE TOWN: Fear has gripped Penangites again as heavy downpour for past several days, aided by strong winds, caused a landslip and tree falls in several parts of the state here today.

The natural disaster had caused property damages, especially on cars and electricity poles and cables, causing power failure in several areas.

But no fatal casualties have been reported so far.

A spokesman from the State Fire and Rescue Department said that most of the trees that fell were on the island while a landslip occurred behind a building located on a highland in Bukit Mertajam.

Fire and Rescue personnel have all been mobilised to carry out rescue operations and remove the fallen trees.

Local council workers have been deployed to clear debris while TNB workers are also busy repairing damaged poles and cables to restore electricity supply.

In Air Itam, two cars were damaged by a fallen giant tree.

Heavy downpour and strong winds have been sweeping across Penang for three weeks.

However, today’s damages were negligible compared with damages caused by a freak storm that wrecked havoc in Penang on June 13.

Three people were killed, scores of trees fell and many house roofs were ripped apart during the storm.

The most serious incident was in Jalan Macalister when a 20-metre lighting arrestor atop the Umno building collapsed, killing two people and injuring several others.

The impact of the fallen concrete beam was so bad that the area looked like an earthquake zone. The incident damaged roads, walkways, vehicles, electricity cables, sewage and water pipelines.