BALING: Every time dark clouds shroud the hill behind Roslan Hassan's workshop in Kampung Bukit Iboi, the 46-year-old gets goosebumps on his arms.
The intensity increases for Roslan if the towering hill disappears from his sight, a clear sign for him to prepare for the worst.
"That is how I feel every time it rains, ever since the massive floods ravaged my workshop a couple of months ago," said Roslan, inspecting a Proton Wira at his workshop.
The car is one of seven vehicles extensively damaged after being swept away by the raging floodwaters, ending up in a river stream opposite his workshop in Kampung Bukit Iboi on Sept 27.
"I am using my own expenses to fix the vehicles. Out of the seven, only one has been fully fixed and returned to the owner.
"It will take some time for me to fix the remaining six cars because I need to spend between RM3,000 and RM4,000 to repair each vehicle.
"It is physically and financially painstaking, but I have no option but to fix them as the cars were damaged by floods that ravaged my workshop too," he said.
Roslan is still finding ways to pay for the repair costs so that he can earn additional income by providing wheel alignment services at his workshop, located next to a sundry shop operated by his father.
Kampung Iboi, located several metres away from Kampung Bukit Iboi, is the epicenter of the worst debris floods that ravaged nearly 40 villages and settlements in Kupang sub-district in July 2022.
As a result, Roslan and the villagers here are forever haunted by the scale of the disaster that claimed the lives of three Kampung Iboi villagers and left hundreds of houses damaged.
The latest scare was on Tuesday evening when Kampung Iboi was hit by yet another flash flood following heavy rainfall.
Fortunately for Roslan and the villagers, the water subsided quickly without causing serious damage to the properties.
"Even during the worst debris floods two years ago, Kampung Bukit Iboi was not badly affected since we are located on higher ground.
"However, things started to change when there was a landslide on the hill. The stormwaters flowing down from the hill brought red earth from the hillslope, causing the small river stream behind the workshop to overflow, leading to the floods," he said.
His sentiment was shared by Yahya Mat Piah, 68, who lives across the street, and whose kampung house is facing a threat of riverbank erosion.
"The riverbank started to collapse due to strong currents that washed down red earth and other debris.
"I am worried sick thinking about the safety of my family as the erosion is getting wider. We have nowhere else to go," he said.
Yahya pleaded for the relevant authorities to do something to resolve the flash flood issue in Kampung Bukit Iboi.