A two-hour thunderstorm on Dec 6 led to 25 locations in Johor to get impacted by flash floods, leading to several residents to evacuate themselves from floodwaters. Mr Muhammad Ikram Md Rashid, 24, was reposing at his rented house in Jalan Mas in Taman Kolam Ayer when he got to hear a loud bang on the front door. “There was intense downpour befalling and I wished to repose after coming back from work in Singapore. The noise shocked me, and when I looked through the window, I saw water was already at chest level,” he said.
e screamed aloud for support and said he was protected by god that a neighbour heard him. “He broke down the front door (of the house) to rescue me,” said Mr Muhammad Ikram. Another resident in the same neighbourhood, Mr Joshua Abraham, 29, said he and his housemates had no choice but to tear open the roof of their house to pull one of their friends to security. “It just befell so fast. I was not able to bring along my clothes or my passport, which I require because I work in Singapore,” he revealed.
Mr Abraham, who is from Kuala Lumpur, said he was also not able to move his motorcycle and car away from the floodwaters. A Johor Fire and Rescue Department spokesperson said 20 firemen in two boats from the Larkin station were deployed to Kampung Mohd Amin, another area impacted by floods. The spokesperson said they were called to rescue 46 victims, which includes a 38 tahfiz schoolchildren and a wheelchair-bound elderly person who were stuck inside a flood-hit house. “The victims are willing to get a shelter at an abode located on higher ground,” he said, also he said that they were also monitoring the river level at several locations.