RAUB: A 74-year-old grandmother and her daughter clung to a mangosteen tree for more than 18 hours after flood waters left their house submerged on Sunday.
Razmah Sarip who addressed herself as Wan, said the flood rose suddenly from about 1.30pm on Sunday, causing some of the structures of her house to collapse.
“Usually after a few hours the flood will subside, but this time it was different, it got higher and higher. When the water reached chest level, my daughter took Wan out of the house, we happened to find a small float in front of the house .. we clung to the float before climbing up a mangosteen tree nearby.
“Wan had to endure hunger and cold all night, fortunately security personnel found us on a tree at about 5 am,” she said tearfully when met by reporters at an evacuation centre here.
Her daughter, Rosmawati Rasman, 44, said their house was one of four located near Sungai Kerak and all were submerged in water, and some were destroyed because of the flood.
“Our house was destroyed and after this we have to start a new life. Of course, it will be difficult indeed because I only work as a restaurant assistant and my husband works as a rubber tapper.
“Meanwhile, my family and I stay at the centre and when the situation gets back to normal, we may get the help of other family members or those involved to get a house (rebuild the house),” she said.
Four other flood victims were also forced to take refuge up a tree. One of them, Mohd Azlan Syah Jaamat, 47, of Kampung Gali Tengah, said the floods in the area were the worst in the past 20 years.
He said a nearby river overflowed and inundated his house to waist level in less than 30 minutes. “I didn’t have time to save anything, just the clothes on my back. I have been living here for decades, this is the worst flood … our area has never been flooded,” he said.
As of 2 pm, Pahang recorded 23,105 flood victims from 6,267 families. - FMT
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