Submerged flooded areas create 'small islands' in Segamat

SEGAMAT - Segamat has turned into "small islands” after several areas in the district were submerged in floodwaters due to continuous heavy rain since Monday.

Bernama’s aerial survey onboard a Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) helicopter late yesterday evening found that almost 80 per cent of residential areas in the district were flooded.

Also, several routes have been closed to traffic while houses in Kampung Tenang and Kampung Jawa were totally submerged with only the roofs visible.

Water from the Juaseh Dam in Labis has also overflowed into the residential area and Bernama was made to understand that was a ‘sign’ of a critical flood situation.

So far, the three badly-affected sub-districts are in Segamat town, Chaah and Labis, forcing the authorities to evacuate residents to relief centres for their safety.

JBPM Fire Safety Division director Datuk Ahmad Izram Osman who also joined the survey said as of last night, water was still covering 80 per cent of the affected residential areas.

According to him, rescue and evacuation operations for flood victims were actively being carried out using various assets including drones.

He said four drones were used by the JBPM air unit for rescue operations in Johor that was hit by floods last Monday.

"Drones are used to monitor locations that are difficult to access, so we can plan a strategy for the evacuation of flood victims,” he said.

Ahmad Izram said that in addition to drones, JBPM also deployed its aircraft to carry out rescue operations.

Meanwhile, lorry driver Mohd Hairulnizam Abu Bakar, 36, said he did not expect the continous heavy rain since last Monday would cause Sungai Segamat to overflow, leaving roads leading to his house impassable.

"When I came home from work on Wednesday at 4 pm, the Segamat old bridge route was closed. I had to sleep on my motorcycle and wait for the water to recede,” he said when met by Bernama at the old bridge.

Mohd Hairulnizam described the floods in the Segamat area as the worst compared to those experienced in 2006, 2011, 2013 and 2017.

As of yesterday evening, two main routes have been closed, namely Jalan Jabi-Bukit Tempurung (Segamat) for a distance of 10 kilometers and Jalan Kampung Tungku Tiga-Felda Pemanis.

Segamat is among 10 districts in Johor severely affected by the floods and as 8 am today, 3,519 families have been evacuated to 77 relief centres. - BERNAMA