Rain wreaks havoc in the north

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LANGKAWI: An over-night downpour caused havoc in the northern part of the peninsula yesterday.

Some 400 people from Kedawang, Padang Matsirat and Ulu Melaka here were forced to leave their homes after their houses were inundated with 0.5m of water.

An evacuation centre has been set up at each of these areas.

Langkawi Welfare officer Che Ahmad Che Noor said: "The number of people might increase as we are still evacuating villagers.

Flood victims sheltering in SMK Kedawang yesterday. Overnight rains caused three areas in Langkawi to be flooded.

"Officers from the Civil Defence Department and Fire and Rescue Department are patrolling the areas in boats to help people evacuate."

In George Town, 20 hours of continuous rain resulted in water to rising to shin-level in the inner city and many flood prone suburbs.

Among the worst hit areas were Jalan P. Ramlee and Jalan Terengganu near Sungai Pinang.

The flash floods caused havoc on traffic in almost all main roads on the island.

Traffic was bumper-to-bumper in roads leading to Tanjung Bungah and Bayan Baru.

In Balik Pulau, fishermen stayed ashore yesterday because of choppy waters.

Several low-lying areas in Air Putih and Kuala Jalan Bahru in the district also experienced floods.

The water in most areas subsided after 2pm.

In Bukit Mertajam, 40 families in Kampung Permatang Tok Subuh have been evacuated.

A continuous downpour in the past 48 hours left the victims' homes knee-deep in water.

The victims spent the night at the village's surau.

Husni Othman, 50, said the disaster was the worst so far this year.

"We had to seek temporary shelter elsewhere as the water will take between two and three days to subside," said the father of five.