As housewife V. Thilgavathy surveys the bare slab of cement that used to be the living room floor of her home at Batu 18, Jalan Karak-Manchis near Karak.
She asks herself, should she stay or go? There is nothing left. The walls, furniture and belongings were all swept away because of the catastrophic floods happened on Dec 18, last year. The family’s eight dogs are also missing.
“My husband grew up in this house. After getting married, we moved here and our children lived here. The house holds plenty of memories but everything was destroyed in a single night because of flood.
“We had never experienced floods to that extent. Since the government has pledged to provide aid to rebuild the house, we have no plans to move out.
“However, if the government feels the place is no longer safe for us, then I hope they will provide an alternative site,” she said at the Sri Telemong hall, where she is sheltering almost four weeks after the floods had receded.
Thilgavathy, 49, said she and her husband, a lorry driver, were away in Karak town during the incident. Had they been home, they might have been trapped by the floodwaters.
“It was raining heavily when we left for Karak about 6.30pm, and at that time I was concerned about the level of Sungai Telemong. My husband assured me that the water had never entered the house in his 50 years of living here. The roads were submerged so we could not return home that night.
“We waded through the floods the following day but the house was gone. It was hit by a large log, which lay several metres from the house,” she said, adding that her durian trees were also uprooted and washed away.
Kampung Sungai Perdak village head Thu Yin Li said, most villagers were ready to relocate after their homes were badly damaged in the floods. After a recent meeting, 19 families were prepared to move to a new settlement.
“The Village Development and Security Committee (JKKK) is discussing with local authorities on a suitable location. It will be safer in the long run as most of us cannot take another disaster.
“Usually, villagers would be alerted by the flood siren when Sungai Perdak overflows, and everyone would gather at the community hall. This time, there were 29 families in the settlement even the hall was in 2m of water,” she said.
Thu said the floods had changed the landscape of the village along Jalan Karak-Telemong and left families homeless.
“The houses need major repairs. Most people have moved to stay with relatives elsewhere. These days, only volunteers would occasionally drop by to help with cleaning,” she said, adding that villagers had received the RM1,500 flood aid from the federal and state governments.
A villager, who wanted to be identified only as Chow, 63, said they were in a dilemma whether to stay or move to start a new life.
“Most of us work as rubber tappers and have been living here for more than 50 years. It began as a traditional village but it now has new facilities, including a community hall. But sadly, the floods damaged everything.
“Some villager want to repair their homes and still want to stay here, but the cost to repair it will be expensive. Also, there are some villager who have started making plans to move. I think the JKKK will announce a decision soon,” said Chow in a low voice, adding that the settlement would never be the same again.
Lorry driver B. Muthusamy, 62, whose house at Jalan Karak-Telemong was submerged during the floods, said if the repairs cost too much, he would probably move.
“The government has promised some aid, but I am not sure if that is sufficient. I hope the authorities will send their officers to examine the damaged homes so villagers can decide if they want to stay or move elsewhere,” said Muthusamy, who has been living in the house since 1971.
The floods in Telemong late on Dec 18 triggered in Sungai Kerau and Sungai Perdak huge water surges that roared through villages along Jalan Karak-Telemong. Five people died that night.
Source: T.N. Alagesh (NST.COM.MY)
