Woman wades 12km of floodwaters for pet cats

BATU PAHAT - For the love of her pets, a woman walks 12 kilometres in floodwaters to 'visit' her five pet cats to ensure they have food and are well.

Siti Nooryani Mohd Kamal, 21, wades through waist-high floodwaters, accompanied by her friend to do this.

The factory worker said she and her eight family members have been staying with relatives in Parit Maimon here, after their house in Kampung Melayu Sungai Jong, Parit Sulong here, was inundated with floodwaters since March 3.

"My parents told us that our family did not have to evacuate when there was a big flood incident in 2006 but this time around we were forced to do so because the house was not only flooded but the electric supply had been disconnected for safety reasons.

"As it has been seven days since we moved, and since we are experiencing hot weather these few days, I decided to return home to check on the house and feed our cats whom we have had for six years," she told Bernama.

Siti Nooryani said she knows it is dangerous to wade through floodwaters but only did so after the waters began to recede over the past three days.

Meanwhile, Mohd Shariz Izwan Shamsul, 21, from Kampung Parit Jidin, said he waded through the floodwaters which were now at thigh level in order to collect important items from home.

He said though the water level in front of his house was still high, he returned home as he was worried that he had left his house for a long period after moving to a nearby relief centre on March 3.

A Bernama survey in Parit Sulong found that the town was still paralysed as the main road to several villages was still flooded and only passable to heavy vehicles.

Although there has been hot weather since Tuesday, the water level is rising due to the high tide phenomenon that is expected to last until tomorrow and which is affecting low-lying areas in Batu Pahat. - BERNAMA