Storm blows off roofs in Ipoh suburb

Roof tiles of houses in Majoi, Ipoh, were blown off in a rain storm which also caused flash floods today. (Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA: More than two hours of heavy rain caused flash floods in the Meru area of Ipoh this afternoon, with at least 40 houses affected by the storm.

The Perak civil defence force said the houses were in Taman Meru 2C. More than 10 houses were badly affected when most of the roofs of the houses were blown off, Bernama reported.

Residents were seen cleaning up their homes after the rain subsided but it was still drizzly late this afternoon.

In the D’Aman Residency Meru Raya area, dozens of residents had to wait by the roadside or in their vehicles because the access road to their residential area was submerged in thigh-high water.

Several vehicles were also found to be submerged in water.

A resident, Nurhafizah Zainal Abidin, 30, said she rode his motorcycle home from work at a pharmacy only to find the path to her house under water.

“I have to wait too, even if I want to walk home, I’m afraid the motorcycle will be stolen,” said Nurhafizah, who has been living there with her mother and uncle for two years.

A resident who only wanted to be known as Afifah, 39, said during the four years of living in the area, there had been flash floods but this afternoon’s incident was one of the worst. She said that usually the water will recede two or three hours after the rain stops.

In Johor, a state government official said a total of 38,000 members of the Southern Volunteers force are ready to be mobilised in case of monsoonal flooding.

On Jabbar, a deputy state secretary, said the volunteers would assist in operations before and during floods and also take part in clean-up operations.

The Meteorological Department has forecast heavy rains in Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Johor and western Sarawak later this week in the early phase of the annual northeast monsoon.