KUALA LUMPUR: Two-hour long heavy downpour in the city this evening, had left several roads in the capital inundated with rain water, causing massive traffic congestions.
The rain had flooded few major roads including; the Middle Ring Road 2 (MRR2) near Seri Gombak, parts of Jalan Raja Chulan, Jalan Sultan Ismail, The Weld junction, Kampung Batu Muda Tambahan and Bulatan Pahang.
While traffic was mostly passable elsewhere, it was brought to a complete standstill at Jalan Kuantan, Tasik Titiwangsa after a tree branch fell onto passing car.
City Fire and Rescue Department director Khirudin Drahman confirmed that in the 5.10pm incident, a Proton Iswara was damaged by an uprooted tree.
"Following a report, our rescue squad rushed to the scene to remove the branch and traffic returned to normal at 6.30pm," he said.
Fortunately, no casualties were reported in today's thunderstorm, Khirudin said.
As of 9pm, the traffic on most major road, including Seremban-Melaka highway towards Sungai Besi toll were still slow moving.
Motorists returning home after work were not only caught in a massive congestion but many had to fork out more than their usual ride-fare.
The social networking sites were set abuzz with users complaining of having to pay higher taxi fare and Uber rates for their rides following the heavy rain.
Herinza Syadza @mymerciadza wrote "Nak balik tapi gara-gara hujan Grab Uber naik harga. Adoiyai. (Wanna go back but because of the rain, Grab Uber fare is so expensive)"
One customer of a ride-sharing service, who only wanted to be known as Yna, told the New Straits Times that during the price surge, it costs her RM53 for a 24 kilometre ride between Jalan Telawi in Bangsar to Section 13, Shah Alam.
“Usually, the ride would cost me about RM30 the most but I believe the price was increased due to the traffic jam and bad weather.
“It was not worth it, having to pay more only to find myself stuck in the traffic but I needed to go home anyway,” she said.