The sound of the siren still sends jitters down the spine of residents in Bertam Valley here.

It is understandable as just three years ago, they faced a massive mudslide that swept away at least 10 squatter houses near the riverbanks and claimed four lives.

On Oct 22, 2013, continuous heavy rain lashed out at the highlands, resulting in the water rising in the Ringlet reservoir and the Sultan Abu Bakar dam.

The following day, water had to be released from the dam which was in danger of bursting into Sungai Bertam and this resulted in a massive mudslide and floods hitting low-lying Bertam Valley.

The tragedy also destroyed about 100 houses and damaged vehicles as well as other properties.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, flood mitigation projects were carried out with the authorities deepening the river and raising the embankment to prevent a similar occurrence.

The squatter houses located there are no more and all of them have been relocated.

Now, the site has been converted into public parking lots.

SJK(C) Bertam Valley, which was also badly hit, has been restored and given a new coat of paint.

Grim reminders: Choy showing the mark where the waters rose to in 2013 and (inset) a resident looking at the flooded SKJC Bertam Valley in Cameron Highlands during the floods three years ago.

Grim reminders: Choy showing the mark where the waters rose to in 2013

But the memories of the deluge still linger to this very day.

Villager Choy Kok Kiong said he could not sleep much over the past few days.

“It has been raining almost daily now and of course, I am worried for my family.

“The scary experience is still fresh on my mind,” the vegetable farmer told The Star.

In recalling the fateful incident three years ago, Choy, 56, said he was with his wife Kok Yen Mui, 50, in bed when he heard a loud commotion.

Choy said he rushed out of the house and saw flood waters gushing through his house.

“I told my wife to wake our three children while I quickly drove my car to higher ground.

“My two motorcycles were washed away,” he said, adding that the mud was up to his waist and destroyed all his furniture and other household appliances.

Luckily, he said the family was unharmed except for his mother who sprained her ankle in her haste to escape the deluge.

Choy said the sound of siren, signalling the release of water from the dam, still haunts them as they fear another round of floods of the same magnitude.

He said the only comfort was that the river bed had been deepened and could buy them more time to evacuate.

Another resident, Kok Fong Lian, 58, said she was sleeping when the siren was sounded on that fateful night.

Kok said it was normal to hear the sound of siren to signal the release of water, so not many of the villagers paid much heed.

“Suddenly so much water came down and destroyed everything.

“All my tables and chairs were washed away,” she said.

She also said that she could only pray and wait for the water to recede in her room upstairs.

Regional Environmental Aware­ness Cameron Highlands president R. Ramakrishnan said residents needed to be given regular training to prepare them for an early evacuation.

He said with heavier rainfall now and the rapid opening of the fragile highlands for development and farms, things could only get worse.

“It is a never ending story.”

Source:
courtesy of THE STAR

by SIMON KHOO

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