In pictures: Floods in Penampang,25th April 2008
April 26th, 2008There are usually two major floods here in a year – by major I mean floodwaters would be at least knee-high downstairs.
Floods here are most unpredictable. Where most people would sleep soundly at night when it’s raining heavily, it’s the total opposite here. We’d look out for the 3-step alarm; if it’s the 3rd alarm, that means it’s the final warning – you’d better be ready to move your cars out to higher ground, clear things downstairs etc.
Last night was one of them. It was a very hot afternoon and some rain only started around 3pm. But by the time I arrived home at almost 7pm, it was already almost chest-high. Bear in mind that the waters did not reach its highest point around 10pm or 11pm, which I’d say was about 1 or 2 feet more. Mercifully the rate was increase was slowing down by then.
Here are some pics taken around 7pm. To give you a general idea, I attach non-flood pics as well.
BEFORE
AFTER
BEFORE
AFTER
I’ve been living here for 10 years, and the worst flood ever was in January 1999 when floodwaters were so high it reached the house floor. The 2nd worst was in October 2004 when it was within 1 foot of the house floor. In contrast, at its height, the flood last night was about 3 feet away from the house floor. Having had many encounters with floods here, people here could be forgiven for not losing any sleep during rainy seasons, or thinking of the rising water as part of nature’s cruise deals…
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Wow…
Lucky for me that there were no flood in Putatan…
I didn’t realize the flood were that bad. As we were heading for Tamparuli today…we could clearly see that it was a major flood. The lower bridge at Tamparuli was still flooded when we went back home this evening
Wow! Didnt realise Penampang was also flooded. My SIL in Membakut informed us that it’s flooded there too!
Oh no! Luckily your house is on stilts. Hope not much damage caused.
Not much. Floods are a common occurence here so procedures are already in place…
Oh wow…that’s a big flood ben..in my kampung also kana banjir, have to move the car..the very next morning, as early as 6.30am, got the chance to memancing on the road….still banjir…
Are you sure you dare to eat the fish???
it’s time to act…. vote wisely for those who can handle this flood problem more effectively……….!!!!!!!!!!!
Haha.. my home at kampung (penampang) also always kena banjir kilat. The water came up fast and as soon as the rain stop it will go fast also.. Like chipsmore… Maybe that’s why most of the home in penampang have tiang.
Wahhh scary!!
Yes, it’s quite scary, especially when the road becomes like a river and water gushes in violently – you’d wonder if it’ll stop or whether it’ll keep rising until goodness knows at what level. Fortunately, many years of living here has given me a pretty good idea of what to expect and what to do if the worst strikes.
Man.. it reminds me the last time in Kobusak. My wife’s parents hse gone 1 floor deep!!!
But honestly, this time around, we don’t even realize it until my mom called from membakut asking whether our house kena or not.
Funny, they dont even mention membakut banjir or not. I know they’re safe even when the previous worst case scenario during the Greg.
The water only reach my parents house ground floor at only 5 inches high. Thank GOD for that.
Our hse at Nosoob safe from all this. Sorry to hear about yer house though. really.
uik.. dalam jugak.. boleh main speed boat racing tahunan.. lol…. anyways, i believe your families already expected and well prepared for long time. so i dun think much headache like one in housing area where all the furniture and electrical appliances spoilt by the flash flood.
Anything with propellers are still at risk during floods due to the fast current (the river is less than 100m away) and also the debris, not forgetting submerged fences / trees. That means even one has to be very careful even with jet skis.