KUALA TERENGGANU: Using some plasticine worth less than RM10, a resident of Kampung Padang Gong Pak Maseh here successfully saved most of her furniture and household items from severe damage due to the floods.
Norlida Ramli, 49, said the idea was sparked by her husband Wan Azmadi Wan Abdul Razak, 51, who is a carpenter, after all the furniture in their house was damaged by flooding in 2019.
"In 2019, not only was the furniture damaged but my husband's mobile phone repair shop located next to the house was submerged, damaging all the new mobile phones and the mobile phones left by customers for repairs.
"At that time, the losses were over RM10,000, and we closed the business because my husband had no capital to start the business again," she said when met by Bernama here today.
Norlida said since the monsoon season in 2020, her husband has been using plasticine purchased at a cheap goods store for RM2.40 for two boxes, sticking it on holes around the plywood walls installed on the front and back fences of the house.
She said her husband only used five boxes and it successfully reduced the overflow of water into the house.
"Before using plasticine, water would enter the house up to knee level, and all the furniture would be damaged. We incurred losses of over RM10,000.
"But since plugging the holes under the plywood with plasticine, we have saved a lot every time it floods because not much furniture and household items are damaged. Water only flows into the house up to calf-level," she said.
She said the proven effective method has also become a reference for residents there, and some of her neighbours have used the same method.
Norlida, who just returned after taking shelter at the Temporary Evacuation Centre (PPS) SK Gong Tok Nasek, said her husband started sticking plasticine on the walls of the fences last Sunday night with the help of their two children, before the house was flooded on Monday morning.
Norlida, who works as a cleaner at Wisma Darul Iman here, admitted that she has become accustomed to the flood situation since living there 14 years ago.
However, she said that in the past two to three years, the floods have become increasingly severe due to the increasing density of residential settlements. – BERNAMA