Vehicles using Kulim highway trapped in floods
About 50 houses in Butterworth were also flooded after heavy rain.
BUTTERWORTH: Heavy rain for over an hour this afternoon caused floods in several areas around here forcing vehicles to be trapped or stranded along the Butterworth-Kulim Expressway (BKE).
State Welfare, Caring Society and Environment Committee chairman Phee Boon Poh said heavy rain started at 3pm, causing both Sungai Pertama and Sungai Perai to overflow and cause flash floods in several areas.
“About 50 houses were flooded between 0.3 metres to 0.6 metres but there was no evacuation as floodwaters receded two hours later,” he said when contacted here today.
One of the victims, K Saraswaty, 38, said she was at home watching television when a sudden downpour resulted in floodwaters gushing into her house.
She said, together with her two daughters, they moved all valuables and electrical appliances to higher ground to prevent the goods from being damaged.
“The area around our house always keeps getting flooded, especially if it rains heavily, and fortunately today, the rain only lasted for an hour, otherwise the floods could have been much worse,” she said.
Meanwhile, a check by Bernama found stranded vehicles, believed to have braved the water reaching 0.5 metres on BKE, had been moved to the roadside after being trapped in the floodwaters.
A highway user, Mohd Ariff Abdullah, said the route often flooded every time it rained because of the poor drainage system.
Since it is also a low-lying area, motorcyclists had to brave the floodwaters even though it was very risky.
“The area that is often flooded is the area before the pedestrian bridge towards Seberang Jaya Industrial Area due to the low-lying area and water tends to be always stagnant there.
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“I hope the authorities will monitor this as it happens every time it rains and causes motorists to incur losses,” he said.