Kuala Lumpur and neighboring districts hit by flash floods, landslide in residential estate

KUALA LUMPUR – Severe flash floods triggered by heavy morning rains inundated Malaysia’s capital and surrounding areas on October 15, causing the temporary suspension of a parliamentary session and triggering a landslide in Taman Melawati, a suburb located in the northeastern outskirts of Malaysia. city.

Malaysia’s most prestigious public university, University Malaya (UM), located a 20-minute drive from the city center, was also not spared from the rising waters.

Video footage shared on social media showed fast-flowing water flooding campus roads, while another widely shared video showed kindergarten students in Gombak, Selangor, standing on tables as water rose around them.

The Klang Valley region, which encompasses Kuala Lumpur, has experienced unusually heavy rains over the past two weeks, several weeks ahead of the usual November-January monsoon season.

CCTV footage from Kuala Lumpur City Hall’s (DBKL) transport information system showed several flooded roads in the city.

Severe traffic disruptions were observed along major main roads leading into the city, such as Jalan Perak, Jalan Travers (near Bangsar) and Sultan Iskandar Highway.

DBKL readings from the Pusat Bandar weather station (KL city centre) showed more than 114mm of rainfall fell in an hour, compared to an average of 60mm per hour for most of the year for the capital.

In Parliament, Speaker Johari Abdul had to temporarily halt work as several MPs were stranded by floods that hit Jalan Parlimen and surrounding roads. The session, scheduled for 10 a.m., was postponed by half an hour.

Ms Husna Alyaa Mohd Annuar, a 36-year-old banker working near the Petronas Twin Towers, a few kilometers from Parliament, told The Straits Times she saw the water level rising as she walked to work in car around 7 a.m. .

However, the immediate surroundings of the skyscrapers were not affected.

In Taman Melawati, Ampang Jaya district police chief Deputy Commissioner Mohd Azam Ismail said he received a report at 10:30 a.m. about a landslide in an old part of the township. “Twenty terraced houses were isolated due to the landslide. A car parked at one of the houses and a guard post were damaged. No casualties have been reported,” he said in a statement.

“All those affected by the landslide have been transferred to a multipurpose hall on (nearby) Jalan E5 in Taman Melawati,” he said, while police, firefighters and municipal council officers ‘Ampang Jaya were deployed to the scene.

Mr Shamsher Singh Gill told ST that he found out about the landslide through the neighborhood WhatsApp group around 10am.

“When I visited the site, the police told us they feared another landslide could occur if the rain does not stop, as there is still water flowing at the top from the Hill,” said the 46-year-old independent media consultant.