PASIR MAS: The border town of Rantau Panjang, which sits on the bank of the Golok river, was among the worst hit in the second wave of floods which hit Kelantan since early this week.
Many of the residents who are traders at the shopping haven for customers, suffered losses as their goods and vehicles were damaged.
A resident Ramli Abdullah, 43, said the flood this time was the worst that he had seen in his lifetime with water reaching up to about four metres in some areas.
Ramli, who is the deputy chairman of the Rantau Panjang petty traders association, said as far as he could remember the flood was about the same scale that he experienced in his childhood about 40 years ago.
"Water started to overflow the river since Wednesday noon and businesses here were closed as people started putting their goods and vehicles on higher ground. However, water rose rapidly by 3 am the next day with many caught off guard.
Ramli said more than 400 vehicles were trapped in the water and for most traders, they have to start their business all over again.
"Villagers in certain areas also ran out of food and clean water on Thursday. They couldn’t go out to buy as the shops were closed and water was too swift to go out with their sampan.
"The authorities were informed but they too could not send the items because these places were not accessible even by lorries as the water was too deep," he said.
Meanwhile, Rantau Panjang head Kamaruddin Mustafa, said almost all the 12,000 residents in the area were hit by the flood.
He said the water has started to recede yesterday morning and most places were accessible except for the town centre which could only be reached by four-wheel drive vehicles.
"The Welfare Department has also started sending food items to villages in the area which has run out of stock," he said.