Malaysians share stories of flood devastation and rescue online

A paralysed man stuck in a house with rising water around him; a woman and her child on the boot of a stranded car, waiting to be rescued from flood waters around them; and water gushing into the basement of a condominium, submerging vehicles.

These were some of the images shared on Malaysian social media in the past three days as heavy rain pummelled most of Peninsular Malaysia yesterday for the third day running.

In another widely shared video, a large lorry carrying stranded Malaysians in the rain travels along a highway, with waves of the flood water splashing onto dozens of stalled cars and even other big lorries.

One video on Twitter shows a settlement, said to be in Hulu Langat district in Selangor, with wrecked cars, uprooted trees and homes in ruins.

"Cars are badly destroyed, overturned, Allahu Akbar (God is great), total loss, Hulu Langat, this is bad. All the houses are underwater, near the river," said a man in the video posted by user Pokpih.

About 100 residents of Taman Sri Nanding in Hulu Langat were stranded on the roof of a prayer hall for more than 12 hours, waiting for rescue. The residents, including babies, pregnant women, the elderly and those with chronic illnesses, had to climb onto the top of the hall due to rising water levels, Sinar Harian newspaper reported yesterday.

The devastation seemed unreal for many Malaysians sharing the videos and pictures, as these involve urban Selangor and the capital city Kuala Lumpur, and not rural Kelantan, Terengganu and eastern Johor, as seen annually during the year-end monsoon season.

The tales of those stranded led Twitter user 4M30W to write, accompanied by five crying emojis: "I don't think any of us can get a good night's sleep tonight. My heart is broken, reading all these updates".

There were heartwarming stories too.

A video shows a car stopping by the road to pick up a family of four who had walked several kilometres as the area around their Shah Alam housing estate was flooded.

A rider with a food-delivery company opened up two of his thermal bags to show seven cats he had rescued, to the virtual applause of many people.

The devastation did not spare the country's landmarks.

A video shows Malaysia's oldest mosque Masjid Jamek in downtown Kuala Lumpur being inundated with raging river water that flooded its compound.

Next door, Dataran Merdeka, or Independence Square - site of concerts, political rallies and National Day parades - was not spared.

Neither were the main routes to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport from surrounding areas, which were shut yesterday due to the floods.

Passengers and airport staff were advised to use the one highway that remained open.

In a twist of irony, the authorities yesterday said water supply will be cut to 472 areas in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, as several water treatment plants were deluged.

Air Selangor, the state utility that supplies water to Selangor state and the federal territory of KL, did not say when regular supply would resume.

Worse, the utility said it could not send out water trucks to many areas because roads were underwater.

With key roads flooded or damaged, some emergency services have been delayed, forcing flood victims to post their plight on social media to ask for help.

A Telegram messaging group has been started to help those stranded and needing rescue to list down where they are, as well as their phone numbers.

Meanwhile, non-governmental organisations such as Gurdwara Sahib and Kembara Kitchen have jumped in to cook and distribute meals to those in need.