JERANTUT: When flash floods hit her home at Kampung Damak near here this morning, Jalilah Yaacob immediately grabbed some important documents and took her family to the nearby village mosque for shelter.
To her horror, the mosque too was not spared. It was under waist-deep water.
A bridge leading to SK Damak was also submerged, leaving the 53-year-old with no choice but to temporarily wait for help at a bus stop.
The mother-of-eight said her main concern at the time was the safety of her disabled eldest son Mahani Hashim, 39, who is bedridden. With the help of family members and neighbours, she managed to bring him to the bus stop.
"It was around 6am and upon seeing that the mosque was flooded, I decided to wait at the bus stop. There was no where else to go...The mosque and school building were flooded, and the roads were practically underwater.
"Luckily, the situation started to improve about an hour later and help arrived," she said when met at her home today during clean-up.
Meanwhile, her sister-in-law Nor Akma Razali who lives nearby said none of her family members were aware of the floods until the neighbours started knocking on their door.
The 35-year-old said she immediately alerted her husband and children who were asleep at the time.
"There was no time to take important documents or move the electrical appliances.
"The situation returned to normal several hours later but our house was already covered in mud," she said, adding that it was the second flood incident at the area since 2014.
District Fire and Rescue Department chief Fariz Ab Rahim said eight firemen were deployed to the village after they were alerted of the flash floods about 5.30am.
He said three houses, a mosque and SK Damak were flooded but the situation did not require an evacuation. All the victims were allowed to return home once the weather improved.
Meanwhile, SK Damak's Student's Affairs senior assistant Tuan Mohd Jaafar Tuan Man said: "This is the first time the school experienced this. (But) Lessons can resume tomorrow (Thursday)," he said.