SHAH ALAM: The almost three-hour early morning downpour yesterday flooded some 20 houses situated in low-lying areas in Taman Manimaran, Padang Jawa, here.
Describing the rain which started at 3am as extraordinarily heavy, residents said water rose up to a metre and flooded their homes in less than 30 minutes.
Close to 45 residents have had to go on emergency leave to clean their homes and dry out the belongings that they had managed to salvage such as furniture.
Kalaiselvam Supramani said he had not had any sleep since last night, when he saw the floodwaters rise up to calf level.
“It is normal for my porch to get flooded when it rains as this is a low-lying area. But, the water entered the house today. It usually subsides quickly, but not today.
“My siblings and I have been scooping out the water from our living hall. Our refrigerator and cupboards are damaged. We are worried because my mother had just been discharged from the hospital and is recovering from sickness,” said the 34-year-old operator whose family of eight has lived in the neighbourhood for 40 years.
Kalaiselvam said the situation had worsened since construction work on the West Coast Expressway, connecting Banting to Taiping, began.
Customer service personnel Paramjoti Augustine, 26, said the floodwaters had seeped in through cracks in his kitchen floor.
“My family and I were keeping watch of the water level at the front portion of our house. We were worried because of the unusually heavy rain. We were unaware that the kitchen floor had cracked and water had come in. All of our mattresses and pillows were soaked,” he said.
Civil servant Nurul Mukbin Sazlan, 46, said it took an hour for the floodwaters to rise to knee-level at his home.
“The rain was very heavy. I had to wake my wife to help save whatever we could. The flood this time was bad. Usually, the water level will be up to my ankles.
“I had to take leave today as I cannot get out from my house. Luckily, I had moved my car to a safer place,” he said.
Housewife M. Vedavali, 58, said flooding was a usual occurrence but the situation had got worse lately.
“I have asked my son who broke his legs to move to his uncle’s house in Subang,” she said.
The motorcycle lane on the Federal Highway next to Taman Manimaran, near the Sungai Rasau toll, is also partly flooded.