Hairul Badariah Zakariah, 39, said climbing on the roof was the only escape she could think of because she was very worried when the water level began to rise rapidly.

“My husband was not at home, so I climbed up the ladder to take my children to safety,” she told reporters today.

Hairul Badariah’s neighbour, Sulaiman Salleh, 56, described the floods as the worst he had experienced this year.

“While waiting for the fire brigade to arrive, we relocated to the house next door on the hill, but their house was also inundated. We were distraught because the water rose too quickly. We are used to floods, but this time, it happened too fast,” he said.

Skudai fire and rescue station chief Riduan Akhyar said 19 victims had been rescued so far and believed that around 15 houses were affected by the floods.

Several areas in Johor Bahru and Kulai were flooded following heavy rain since 2pm.

Among the areas affected were Kampung Jaya Sepakat and Taman Aman in Kulai; as well as Kampung Maju Jaya and Kampung Laut Batu 10, Skudai in Johor Bahru.