New mum wades through floodswith baby at 3am
In a safe place: Suhaili feeding her newborn daughter at the relief centre at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Badrul Alam Shah in Kemasik. — Bernama
KEMAMAN: It was a harrowing experience for a young mother, having to wade through waist-deep flood waters in the wee hours of the morning to save her newborn baby after her family home was inundated.
Suhaili Saharuddin, 21, from Kampung Padang, said she had to wade through the flood waters for about 200m to the relief centre about 3am yesterday. She had given birth to her daughter, Nur Sofia Mohd Rizal, only 15 days ago.
“I was sleeping when my husband woke me up, saying water had entered the house. I panicked because of my newborn baby, but we decided to evacuate for fear the flood waters would rise further.
“I carried my newborn baby through the flood waters. Only God knows how I felt at the time in the darkness, but I had to be strong for my baby’s safety.
“My husband carried our other child, who is three years old,” she recalled when met at the relief centre at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Badrul Alam Shah, Kemasik, here.
Suhaili, who resides in Paka, said she had returned to her family home on Sunday evening to spend her confinement period with the family.
She said the facilities provided at the relief centre did provide some comfort for her and her family.
“Thankfully, I have been given a tent, a mattress and a mat, as well as food suitable for a woman in confinement.
“Today, I had fried chicken and rice for lunch.
“This morning, a health officer came and took my baby to the clinic for a check-up and treatment as my baby has jaundice,” she added.
Abdul Rasid Ibrahim, 44, who lives at the Kampung Baru Kanan Hardcore Poor Housing Project (PPRT) in Kemasik said heavy rain from 8pm on Sunday caused the river water to overflow to the housing area, affecting more than 10 houses.
“Flood waters started entering my house about 1am. Fortunately, my wife and I managed to remove our furniture and other belongings to a higher ground.
“We only evacuated to the relief centre at 5am as it took time to move those things away to safety,” he said.
Abdul Rasid said this was the second time his house has been hit by floods since moving to the PPRT in September this year. The first was in November.
The number of flood victims here increased to 101 people from 24 families as at 6pm yesterday as compared to 63 people from 17 families at noon.
Kemaman district officer Rosman Roslan said 56 victims from 13 families were placed at the evacuation centre in SMK Badrul Alam Shah, Kemasik.
Another 24 victims from five families have been placed at the Kampung Padang Kemunting community hall, while 21 others from six families were housed in Batu 9, Balai Raya in Ibok.
Rosman said all parties, including security agencies and the Social Welfare Department, were now ready to face the floods following continuous rain stop in the district since Sunday night. — Bernama
