Siripala and his family, who live in Taman Sri Muda, did not expect the floods.

Recalling that fateful weekend, Siripala said, “Although it was raining on Friday, the rain had stopped early the following morning, and I even went for breakfast,” he said, adding that he had no inkling whatsoever, of the devastation that was to rain down on them later.

However, things quickly took a turn for the worse and by afternoon, water was gushing into his house at an alarming rate.

Over the course of the weekend, the water level in his double-storey house rose to over two metres – with everyone scrambling upstairs for safety.

Before long, the family found themselves stranded on the second floor of their home with only a little food and water between them.

“I remember seeing our chairs and refrigerator floating in the water,” recalled Adanna, 20, Edward’s daughter. “I felt really scared when I saw the waters rising.”

It became all too clear by now that the family had to evacuate, and fast. Food and water supply by this point was also running dangerously low.

However, getting help was another ordeal. “We opened the windows and started screaming for help. But the number of people asking for help was just too overwhelming and there were too few boats.”

Thankfully, on Sunday morning, the family was finally evacuated to a nearby apartment.

“Yes, I was grateful to get on the boat. But as we were going, my heart was breaking for the people who were calling out, ‘When are you going to save us? We have disabled and old people with us!’”

Once at the apartment, the family was relieved to finally have some hot coffee and porridge as they were famished. There were also pillows and blankets for them. “It was such a relief,” Adanna said.

They finally returned to their house three days later and have been literally picking up the pieces since – even over Christmas.

Siripala struggled to take in the extent of the damage to the beloved home he had bought and lived in with his family for two decades. “Everything we built is gone,” he said, sounding crestfallen.

Although he is contemplating finding another place where he can live without the fear of another flood, he said, “I have a lot of memories living here and I believe that there are things that can be done to keep Taman Sri Muda safe.”

‘Highly avoidable’

According to Siripala, the widespread devastation could have been avoided had the local authorities acted earlier to ensure that the river nearby didn’t burst its banks and flood Taman Sri Muda as it does every so often.

“For the last few years, we’ve realised that we have been like a ‘basin’ – and waters from surrounding areas like Bukit Kemuning have been flowing into Taman Sri Muda,” he told FMT.

“It won’t flood if it rains in Taman Sri Muda alone, but the volume of water entering Taman Sri Muda from outside is great, and it quickly collects and rises inside Taman Sri Muda.

“The Taman Sri Muda Zone D residents’ association have been petitioning the local authorities to do something about the situation as the capacity of the pumps are not sufficient to remove the waters,” he added.

New Year wish

However, refusing to be crushed by this harrowing experience, Siripala is keeping his chin up and hoping for the best come 2022.

“We should think positively because adversities make us stronger. I want to look at how we can improve Taman Sri Muda and make it a better place,” he said, adding that the piles of rubbish and damaged items lining the streets is yet another depressing sight he has to contend with now.

Determined to start the new year on a better note, Siripala stressed, “Urgent help is needed, and people are suffering. This is going to take weeks to clean up,” he said, adding that the authorities should have sent help faster when the neighbourhood was flooded.

He said that since the waters have receded, he wanted the authorities to cart away the debris as soon as possible as it was a health hazard.