“There’s no food for the festival and no money,” laments Rita Asogan, a flood victim staying along Jalan Delima, Taman Sri Nanding, here today.
According to Rita, 34, a few days before the floods, she and her family had already made all their preparations to celebrate Christmas.
“We had prepared the food and clothes. We also received presents from our friends a few days earlier.
“But when the floods came, everything was destroyed. We couldn’t save anything,” she said when met by Bernama at her home.
Recalling the flooding last Saturday (Dec 18), she said that they did not expect the water to rise so quickly, although they had managed to store household appliances at a higher level.
“In the past, if it rained for four days, our house would be flooded.
“This time it was much worse. At about 8pm, the water rose so quickly. Two hours later, the floodwaters had risen almost as high as the roof,” she said.
Realising that the situation was getting worse, her husband, Sivarajan Nadarajah, 34, decided that they had to look for a safer area.
Together with the neighbours, they decided to go to a construction site behind the housing area.
“We went up to the second floor of a house still under construction. With us were a baby and a senior citizen.
“We were all feeling cold and hungry but no help ever came.
“The rescuers later told us they did not know that we had moved farther back from the housing area.
“We decided to use all our energy to walk in the floodwaters and rain to go to a petrol station located along the main road to ask for help.
“The community here has been helping each other as if we were one big family,” he said, praising the residents who continued to help each other, irrespective of religion or race.
As it was Christmas today, Rita said they had received more help from the Petaling Jaya church community, who helped them clean their house.
Normally on Christmas Day, Rita and her husband would go to church to pray, and later organise a feast for the neighbours.
“Last year, we celebrated Christmas in moderation because of Covid-19. This year, it was the floods.
“So today, we have no plans. Everyone is busy. Everyone is so sad,” she said.