by Anisah Shukry
The Malaysian Insider
30 December 2014
In the remote village of Kampung Manek Urai Lama, Kuala Krai, in the east coast state of Kelantan, hundreds of villagers had been stranded for days up on the hills, having fled for higher ground when flood waters surged into their homes without warning.
The evacuation had been frightening and sudden, with no help from the authorities, according to Hayati (not her real name), who is among those seeking shelter on the hill after the flood devastated her house.
“The time when we needed them the most, the police, the firemen failed us,” she said, her eyes brimming with unshed tears.
No one in the village expected the flood to reach their homes. So when the water came rushing in at 3am last Tuesday, families scrambled to get to safety as frantic phone calls were made to the authorities to save them.
But the rescue team wouldn’t, or couldn’t, come, and the villagers had only themselves to rely on.
“The water was coming in so fast. When the police said they couldn’t come here, I thought, ‘that’s it, we’ll just have to climb onto the roof.
“But, thank God, someone in the village had a sampan so I quickly climbed in and squeezed into it with my two-month-old baby and we fled for the homes higher up on the hills,” she said. Continue reading “Villagers stranded on hills as floods swept away homes”