Penampang floods unusual, inundated places never affected for the past 40 years

 By Olivia Miwil - September 16, 2021 @ 12:59pm

The incessant heavy rain from noon till about 5pm yesterday inundated 30 villages and 12 roads. - Pic courtesy of APM

PENAMPANG: The floods which affected at least 3,500 people in the district was an unusual disaster, said district officer Francis Chong.

"The incessant heavy rain from noon till about 5pm yesterday inundated 30 villages and 12 roads.

"It was unusual as according to some villagers, their places had never been affected for the past 30 to 40 years," he told the New Straits Times.

He said apart from the heavy rainfall, development projects at the Kibabaig and Sugud areas had also contributed to the disaster.

For now, the authorities only received reports of six cars damaged due to the floods or landslides and were waiting for more information about damages to properties.

Last night, three people were killed, including an eight-month-old baby while another survived at the Forest Hill landslide here.

As of 11am, the Penampang Sports Club had 34 evacuees from 10 families.

Chong added certain areas still had no electricity supply as the utility company had to shut its substations due to the floods.

The situation has now improved and some of the roads are passable.

Only Kampung Tombovo and Kampung Lembising are still inundated.

Meanwhile in Putatan, there were 29 flood victims from two villages seeking shelter at Dewan Sri Serigai and Dewan Sri Segamat.