MUHAMMAD MUSTAKIM RAMLI New Straits Times 22 Sep 17;
KANGAR: The RM260 million Timah Tasoh West Flood Diversion, which was supposed to solve floods in Tebing Tinggi area here, turned out to be the reason for a massive flood, forcing over 1,000 people to seek shelter at relief centres.
The project, which was scheduled to be completed in the middle of this year, has suffered a delay and the new deadline has been pushed to November.
Residents were left fuming as the final part of the 22 kilometer canal, which links a water tunnel from Tebing Tinggi to Bukit Wai, became the reason for the worst flood in recent years.
The canal is supposed to channel running water from Timah Tasoh Dam directly to the Straits of Malacca near Kuala Perlis river mouth.
The continuous rainfall over the past two days left some areas, which have never been flooded before, to be submerged up to 1.5-metre deep.
As at noon today, 1,008 people from 277 families, mostly from Tebing Tinggi, were forced to seek shelter at the flood relief centres.
Kangar member of Parliament Ir Shaharuddin Ismail said the project delay had left the area exposed to flood disaster every time there was a heavy downpour.
He said this had not happened before the project started.
"I am urging the state government, the Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) and the contractor concerned to expedite the project. If the contractor is unable to complete the project, might as well just terminate the contractor," he told reporters after visiting the site today.
Meanwhile, Tebing Tinggi residents who were taking refuge at SK Bintong, appealed to the relevant authorities to complete the project as soon as possible.
Mahidah Ismail, 40, said her house had never been flooded even during continuous rainfall like over the past two days.
"Since the project started my house has been hit by flash floods. The water used to reach up to knee-level but now it has reached waist-level," she said.
Her neighbour Norhidah Mohmad, 56, said she could no longer stand the hassle of having to abandon her home every time there was heavy rain and having to clean up the house several times.
The flood had also forced a trunk road linking Wang Ulu to Kuala Perlis to be closed to traffic while a petrol station in Arau has to suspend its operation.
It was reported that the project, which had been completed 80 per cent, was suffering a delay following a technical problem at Bukit Wai as the contractor was having difficulties in building a tunnel.
Be calm, perennial floods will be overcome in Tebing Tinggi, says Perlis MB
MUHAMMAD MUSTAKIM RAMLI New Straits Times 22 Sep 17;
ARAU: Flood woes in Tebing Tinggi are expected to be resolved in December when the Timah Tasoh West Flood Diversion project is ready, Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Azlan Man said.
He said the people affected by floods should be patient as the RM260 million project would be completed on time.
He said the flood in Tebing Tinggi, the worst affected area in the state, was caused by the construction of a bridge linking Kampung Wang Besar to Tebing Tinggi.
"The construction of canal has been completed but the problem is with the 500m bridge.
“We cannot speed up the bridge construction due to several problems including the rainy spell for the past several weeks.
"The bridge construction is progressing on schedule and expected to be ready by December," he said after visiting flood evacuees in Padang Nyu relief centre today.
The number of flood evacuees climbed to almost 1,500 this evening and is possibly the worst flood in Perlis in three years.
Tebing Tinggi residents have claimed that that the flood was caused by the delay in the Timah Tasoh West Flood Diversion project.
Azlan said water could not flow smoothly as the bridge was not ready.
“If we release the water through the tunnel, it may cause erosion to the concrete wall of the bridge,” he said.
"Another problem is that the project consultant has failed to carry out a full assessment on the condition of the area which forced changes to the original job scope.”
He said with the changes, the state government needed to give new approval before works could resume and this took time.
As of 7pm today, 1,491 people from 411 families sought shelter at 16 flood relief centres in Padang Besar, Arau and Kangar.
Earlier, Kangar member of parliament Shaharuddin Ismail called for the state government, the Drainage and Irrigation Department and contractor to expedite the project.
He said the service of the contractor should be terminated if the project was delayed for many times.
Mahidah Ismail, 40, said her house had never been flooded even during continuous rains before.
"Since the project started, my house has been hit by flash floods," she said.
Her neighbour Norhidah Mohmad, 56, said she was fed-up with the hassles of leaving her home every time there was a flood.
The today’s flood had also forced a road linking Wang Ulu to Kuala Perlis to be closed to traffic and a petrol station in Arau to stop its operation.
It was reported that the project, which is 80 per cent complete, was delayed following a technical problem at Bukit Wai as the contractor has encountered difficulties in building a tunnel.
1,200 evacuated in Perlis floods
The Star 23 Sep 17;
KANGAR: Floods in Perlis have displaced 1,200 people from 365 families, who are now staying at 16 evacuation centres.
Perlis Disaster Management Committee spokesman Mohd Farid Ishak said the centres were located in Arau (five), Kangar (five) and six in Padang Besar.
Many places were submerged in knee-deep water after intermittent rains throughout the day yesterday.
Among the worst-hit areas were Titi Tinggi, Beseri, Chuping, Mata Ayer and Santan in Padang Besar.
Other places affected were Bintong, Sena, Indera Kayangan, Kuala Perlis and Kayang in Kangar and Pauh, Tambun Tulang, Guar Sanji, Simpang Empat, Sanglang and Pekan Arau in Arau.
Housewife Roslaini Ibrahim, 41, said her house at Kampung Jarak in Bintong had been inundated by flash floods twice this month.
“I expect the situation to get worse if the rain continues,” she said.
Self-employed Fikry Izwan Abdul Rahman, 23, said his village in Kampung Tebing Tinggi was flooded on Thursday.
“The water rose to a metre deep in an hour. My family was evacuated to SK Bintong,” he said.
He said his village had been flooded more than 10 times after a bridge in his village was built.
“I hope the authorities will look into this as my village had never been flooded before the bridge was built,” he added.
Yesterday, two rivers – Sungai Jarum and Sungai Repoh – were at danger levels of 34.07m and 5.22m respectively.
The warning signal was raised for three rivers – Sungai Chuchoh (37.86m), Sungai Kampung Bakau (3.26m) and Sungai Pelarit (38.67m).
In Kedah, 149 families comprising 669 people were evacuated to five relief centres in Kuala Muda, Kota Setar and Kubang Pasu.
Flood mitigation projects prevented need for massive evacuation in Kedah
ADIE SURI ZULKEFLI New Straits Times 23 Sep 17;
SUNGAI PETANI: The floods in several parts of Kedah were caused by an unusually heavy rainfall.
However, flood mitigation projects at the main rivers in the state have helped to keep the number of evacuees low when compared to statistics from previous years, even though records show that the amount of rainfall over the past several days had exceeded the average monthly rainfall.
Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah said the unusual rainfall had caused water levels at the main rivers to rise dramatically.
However, he said, thanks to the hefty investment by the federal government in flood mitigation projects, there had been a reduced impact to those living in low-lying areas.
Bashah said the number of flood evacuees in the state could have been much higher if not for the federal government initiative in approving an allocation of over RM1 billion to carry out flood mitigation projects in the state over the past years.
He said, even though Kuala Muda was the worst affected district in the state with some 500 evacuees, the number was marginal.
“I remember that the number of flood evacuees in Kuala Muda district used to be way bigger but things have improved a lot following the full completion of a massive Sungai Muda Flood Mitigation project costing RM1.4 billion two years ago.
“This district used to be severely affected as the whole Pantai Merdeka up to Kota Kuala Muda would be easily flooded during continuous heavy downpour, but the number has significantly reduced.
“Except for several low-lying areas like Bukit Meriam, which is located on just such an area near a swamp, many other areas are no longer affected by floods,” he said after visiting Pantai Merdeka flood evacuees at a relief centre at SK Bukit Kecil.
It was the second flood disaster for the victims in a span of two weeks.
Bashah said all the government departments and agencies involved in flood management had been ordered to continue monitoring the situation.
“The overall situation in the state is under control but we have ordered all the departments and agencies concerned to continue monitoring the situation as water flowing down from rivers to the sea might cause more flood.
“It is compounded by the high-tide phenomenon which is expected to last for at least another two to three days,” he said.
Bashah said the RM641 million Sungai Kedah-Anak Bukit flood mitigation project is expected to reduce flood risk in Kuala Kedah area upon its completion soon.
He commended all the government departments and agencies, assemblymen and others for their hard work in ensuring that the flood evacuees are well taken care of.
Kuala Muda District Officer Md Nordin Yahya said based on Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) records, the rainfall in the district over the past several days was unusually high.
He said the average monthly rainfall recorded in the district was about 200mm but the downpour over the past several days was recorded at over 200mm per day.
“The same amount of unusual rainfall was recorded here when the affected areas were flooded last week,” he said.
Nordin said the weather was improving and two flood relief centres in the district — SK Bukit Kechil and Dewan Kampung Jilid 8 — were closed today.
Three other flood relief centres in the state — one in Kota Setar district ad two in Kubang Pasu district — were also closed earlier in the morning.
However, the number of flood evacuees soared to 1,781 people as of 5pm.
Kedah Civil Defence Force Disaster Management Committee coordinator Saifuddin Abdullah said 13 flood relief centres were still operating and the authorities were bracing for more evacuations following a forecast of heavy downpour later this evening.
Weather in Kedah improving but flood victims soar to over 1,000
ADIE SURI ZULKEFLI New Straits Times 23 Sep 17;
ALOR STAR: After being pounded by continuous heavy rain over the past three days, the weather is finally improving in Kedah.
However, the number of flood evacuees has risen to over 1,000 as of this morning.
State Civil Defence Force (APM) Disaster Management Committee coordinator Captain Saifuddin Abdullah said as at 10am today, the total number of evacuees in the state climbed to 1,104 people from 259 families.
He said 669 new evacuees from 149 families moved into relief centres last night and the numbers are expected to increase today.
As of today, 14 flood relief centres have been opened in five affected districts; Kuala Muda, Kota Setar, Kubang Pasu and Pendang.
Three relief centres are operating in Kuala Muda, the worst affected district.
"The SK Bukit Kechil relief centre is housing 390 people from 83 families while the other evacuees in Kuala Muda are seeking shelter at Dewan Kampung Jilid 8 (44 people) and Dewan Kampung Sungai Pial (112 people)," he said in a statement.
In Kota Setar, five relief centres have been opened in SK Titi Gajah (55), Seberang Perak Welfare Department (6), Surau Assyakirin, Kepala Batas (53), and SK Alor Mengkudu (26).
Saifuddin said four relief centres have been opened in Kubang Pasu district; SMK Changlun (148), Surau kampung Kubang Betong (108), SK Kodiang Lama (46) and Dewan Kampung Lahar (43).
"In Pendang, 41 people have moved to Dewan Cenderawasih flood relief centre while 12 others are seeking shelter at Bukit Hijau relief centre," he said.
Authorities said the raging water from upstream in Padang Terap and Jitra flowing down to the sea is causing rivers and irrigation canals near low-lying areas to overflow, leading to the flood.
