Rain causes flooding in Klang Valley (including Kajang)

The Star, Thursday May 3, 2012

Rain causes flooding in Klang Valley

PETALING JAYA: Heavy rain caused flash floods at several places in the Klang Valley.

Rescuers brought out fire engines and boats after the floods affected several stretches of roads and residential areas yesterday.

A spokesman for the Kuala Lumpur Fire and Rescue Department operations centre said the flood waters peaked at around 3pm, with Salak South being among the worst-hit areas.

“Ten people were evacuated after they were trapped by floods along a row of shoplots near the Sungai Besi post office,” he said, adding that the floods subsided by 5pm.

A Selangor Fire and Rescue Department operations centre spokesman said parts of Ampang, Kajang and Pandan Indah were flooded at around 2pm but the waters subsided three hours later.

Malaysian Independent Animal Rescue president T. Puspa Rani, who runs an animal shelter in Metropoint, Kajang, said waters reached a height of about a metre at about 2pm.

She added that several houses were affected with furniture and electrical appliances damaged.

“The floodwaters came in very fast.

“The river overflowed. It was all very wet and very scary,” she said, adding that the dogs in her care were safe but “wet and shivering”.

The SMART tunnel was closed from 2pm. A Lingkaran Trans Kota (Litrak) spokesman said traffic was heavy until 5.30pm on the LDP from Kelana Jaya to Damansara Utama and the Puchong Jaya to Pusat Bandar Puchong stretch.

The AMP traffic infocentre tweeted that a mudslide at Taman Desa Melawati, which occurred at 5.15pm, had obstructed the MRR2's left and middle lanes, causing massive jams at Batu Caves.

In Kajang, the town was hit by an hour-long flashflood at around 1.30pm, with water levels reaching more than half a metre.

Kajang assemblyman Lee Kim Sin said about 50 shops were flooded after Sungai Jelok overflowed its banks.

“Worst was at Pasar Kajang with flood levels reaching 0.61m. The floods subsided after an hour.”

In Shah Alam, the Malaysian Highway Authority tweeted via @LLMinfotrafik at 3.10pm that the Seafield intersection at Shah Alam along the Elite highway was hit by flashfloods.