News
Segamat flood 2011 update 10th Feb 2011
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It's been 10 days since the big flood on the 30th Jan 2011. Segamat is slowly recovering after the water receded.
It has been hot and dry since the flood receded on the 1st Feb 2011. Segamat turned into a dry and dusty town with lots of potholes on the roads. What a contrast!
Rubbish are being cleared daily but the amount of household and business goods being thrown away daily makes it seem like nothing is being done.
Businesses are selling their flood affected goods cheaply. Lelong lelong is the call to the public who are on the lookout for cheap shoes, furniture and so on.
Many people were affected both in their houses as well as their businesses. The authorities managed to restore power and water supply relatively quickly.
Only a few businesses were quick to recover. Many were still busy with cleaning their houses and trying to celebrate Chinese New Year. Banks were opened on Monday.
People going through this for the second time in 4 years mentioned that the first time their house were flooded in 2006, they cried during the cleanup. Now in 2011, they just did the cleanup numbly with all emotions drained.
People were much more prepared this time. When the warning came (not from the authorities), they just got out of the affected areas as fast as possible. That is why there were so much fewer cars affected by flood water this time around.
Upwell supermarket was open early. Billion and Nirwana supermarket is still being cleaned because they were the most bady damaged by the flood. Giant supermarket was opened a few days ago although in limited capacity. Although their main shopping aread was flooded about 30cm (1 feet), their electrical wirings were affected badly. There is no airconditiong and their escalators are not working.
Yesterday we had about an hour of heavy rain. At first it was a welcomed blessing after more than a week of dry and hot weather. However after about 10 minutes of rain, the anxiety of possible flood again hit many people. The rain washed away a lot of the dust and caked mud from the roads and sidewalk.
There is still a lot of work to be done for Segamat to recover. Now people in Segamat are asking why this big flood (once in 50 years?) is happening to them again and why there was no flood warning given to the public.
