By Olivia Miwil - September 16, 2021 @ 4:54pm
PENAMPANG: For flood victim, Jamina Kigut, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakub's visit brought some comfort.
Jamina's house in Kampung Madsiang was destroyed in severe floods and landslides on Wednesday.
"I have never met a prime minister in person, but today he came and met me and other villagers although we are not in the best situation to welcome him.
"We are very thankful that he visited us and gave some assistance for us to rebuild our homes," said Jamina, 58.
She said she was clueless as to how her school-going children and grandchildren were going to get by as all of their houses were beyond repair.
Three people have been killed, while others were still unaccounted for following floods and landslides that hit the Penampang district on Wednesday.
As rescuers conducted search and rescue operations for missing persons, Penampang District Officer Francis Chong had said this morning that 3,500 people have been evacuated as of this morning.
Scores of other victims also saw their homes damaged.
Chong had said that heavy rain from noon till about 5pm on Wednesday had inundated 30 villages and 12 roads.
Chong had also described the flooding and landslides as "unusual" as many villagers said their areas had never been affected by such a calamity in the past 30 to 40 years.
Meanwhile, Jamina's son Doraly John, 36, said it was the first time in 20 years that his area was severely flooded.
During the incident yesterday, he suffered injuries on his waist and legs when the house wall fell on him while he was rescuing his children aged from 4 to 14.
"I just arrived home from the town when everything went out of control, the wind and floodwater currents were strong and there was a landslide.
"At the time, my kids were about to take a nap in a room, but my wife and I rescued them to safety although both of us were already injured," he said, adding they had to stay at a relative's house last night.
Ismail Sabri visited the three families at Kampung Madsiang here after attending a state development plan briefing at the Menara Kinabalu in the state capital.
His entourage included Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin, Sabah Community Development and People's Wellbeing minister Shahelmey Yahya and state secretary Datuk Seri Safar Untong.
Meanwhile, Shahelmey urged the people of Sabah, especially those in high-risk areas, to be alert as the Meteorological Department forecast heavy rainfall until November.
"The weather yesterday had brought unusual rainfall which led to floods in Kota Kinabalu, Putatan and Penampang.
"For now, we are still collecting reports from the district disaster committee and we will mobilise the assistance (as soon as possible)."
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