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Published: January 10th 2015
What do you see?
This guy was at one point standing on top of the cab of the truck.It's currently the monsoon season on the eastern coast of the peninsula. While my teachers had warned me about potential flooding, before I set off for my holiday things were a bit rainy, but still perfectly fine.
That's changed.
Saturday I had to drive home from KL and it should be about a 2.5 hour journey. I'd be home in plenty of time to do some laundry, check out potential flooding in my area, and finally watch the Downton Abbey Xmas special. I'd wisely done a bit of shopping at a supermarket near my hotel, just in case. I'd already been assured by my landlord that my house was fine, my area was fine, just some minor flooding on the road to Kuantan. Home was just a short drive away.
If only it went that way.
As I was zipping along the E8 expressway, quite possibly the curviest expressway I've ever seen, I was suddenly forced to come to a screeching halt. Lots of cars were just sitting. I figured there was an accident. I sat. We sat. We sat some more. Drivers and passengers looked at each other. We gave each other confused looks. We shrugged
At the tolls
Extra stations were set up, doubling places to pay. shoulders. A guy on a bus tried to gesture to me that he thought there was a serious accidents and people died. People started creating extra lanes, hoping to get ahead. One guy climbed out of his pickup truck and stood on top to see what was happening. Some people got out and started walking. We weren't moving. I had a poor 3G signal, so I couldn't get any info online. Eventually, I just started reading a book I had with me, moving my car up a meter every 5-10 minutes. It would be nearly two hours before I knew what was going on. I was just thankful it was sunny. I hate to think how long this would take if it were raining.
It turns out they were trying to get us all off the expressway. Every. Saturday. Driver. Off of a toll road. Progress had been slow because everyone had to stop and pay to exit. I'd heard there might be some flooding on the expressway, but had no idea if it was serious or just minor. Most of my friends thought it was clear. I'd later see an arial photo of E8 (not mine, thus not
shown here). From what I could tell, it looks like several kilometers were completely covered with water.
I started driving back east on another old highway instead. Traffic was heavy. And slow. But we were moving.
It started to get dark. When I reached the Temerloh area I saw things that shocked me. It's one thing to see photos online or in a newspaper; it's another to see them with your own eyes, to see them right next to you. I saw whole towns underwater. Dirty, brown water. Rivers so high that they were almost touching the bridges I drove on. I saw children carrying what they could. People, just watching traffic. Some parts of the road had water creeping up, threatening to spill over. Some parts were covered, and locals lined up to wave us through, to assure us that it was safe to pass. I smiled and waved a thank you to every one. When it was finally dark, the police were out doing the same thing.
It took me 7 hours to get home. At home, I had no internet, no phone service. But I have a home. A home that's as dry as
I left it.
From what I've read online, over 200,000 people have been evacuated so far. This includes some of my teachers. At least two of my schools are underwater, their first floors completely submerged. It's said to be the worst flooding in decades. And with Google's help, I've found one article about it in western media. Only one.
My house if fine, I'm fine. I get an extra week off, and I wish it were under different circumstances. The devastation I saw, the faces... I won't forget what I saw. It's like driving right by danger, right by all the people affected by it, and knowing they're helping you to get through safely. I can't think of a word to describe it. "Humbling" is inadequate.
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cabochick
andrea
So glad you are safe and your house is fine. It is always so hard to see this kind of natural disaster and the affects on the people who live there. Thanks for sharing!