'Mini tsunami' from Mount Jerai covers sleepy Kedah villages in mud, kills 3

 

Villagers living at the foot of Mount Jerai in Kedah have described a "mini tsunami" gushing down from uphill, sweeping trees and bridges away and blanketing villages in mud.

Salwa Md Isa, 34, said she had never seen anything like it in all her years living in Kampung Setoi, a village at the foot of the mountain.

“I grew up in this village and this is the first time I’ve seen such an incident. The upstream water rush has happened before but not to such an extent until the bridges and roads collapsed, cars washed away and people dying… I am very scared," she told Bernama.

Salwa said the incident happened at 5pm and the water receded after two and a half hours, leaving a trail of destruction.

The mini tsunami flooded scores of villages at the foot of the mountain, leaving at least three dead and another three missing.

Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor denied logging was the cause of the flooding.

Caretaker prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin said he is following the developments in Yan closely and called on the Kedah government to mobilise aid for the people there.

Mohd Nasir Shuib, 41, said he found the body of a man in his 60s near a banana tree.

“I saw the water in the river near my house flowing rapidly and it sounded different.

"The water flowed so fast that all the logs were washed away until my house and my neighbour’s were inundated,” he was quoted as saying by Bernama.

Mohd Nasir believed sustained heavy rain at the peak of Gunung Jerai had caused water to accumulate and eventually overflow.

“This is the worst incident. The town of Yan had never been flooded, but today it has… now efforts to rescue the victims are being carried out,” he added.

Jaafar Man, 62, said properties were damaged by the flood water which carried logs with them.

“Many mirrors and building structures were also broken due to being hit by the washed away logs,” Jaafar, who has operated the Kenari Nature Park Camp in Titi Hayun for 21 years, told Bernama.

On social media, netizens shared images of vehicles covered in mud and smashed by logs. Roads were also destroyed.

 

- Mkini