A Natural Disaster – Flood
On the 17th and 18th of December, many states saw moderate to heavy rain with thunderstorms, resulting in serious flooding. On 18 December, 316.5mm of rain fell in Klang, compared to the normal monthly national rainfall of 202mm, according to the Department of Irrigation and Drainage.
Floodwaters and mudflows have made several bridges and highways inaccessible, limiting overland traffic in and around impacted areas. Flights have been canceled at regional airports due to heavy rain and poor visibility. Dozens of bus services in and around the capital have been halted and also the rail networks to the port city of Klang, one of the worst-affected areas in Selangor. Travellers were stranded in their automobiles on congested roadways for up to 12 hours or more due to individuals leaving their vehicles and walking through floodwaters. Many of the family members were separated leaving their households trapped inside the house and some of them were successfully evacuated to relief centers. There have been unannounced water outages as well as power outages. The search and rescue team was on their mission but the absence of pieces of equipment to move through the canals developed around high-density residential areas and low-lying flood basins have complicated search and rescue efforts, which has been aggravated by coordination challenges between agencies. In no time, the water submerged the houses until their knees and almost everything victims own was drowned under the flood. Flood water brings many different creatures with them such as cockroaches, snakes, alligators, etc. Due to which the victims were forced to leave their belongings behind and run to the relief centers with their families. Victims were left with no food, water, or anything. Many agencies had taken part in helping the victims to provide them with their needs. The government has also announced to help victims rebuild their houses, provide cash vouchers to buy and repair their household appliances. Govt has decided to give almost RM10,000 to each affected household.
UCSI university had a great role in helping the victims of the disaster. UCSI students, staff, and other NGOs are working on a mission to deliver basic needs to the victims which have been destroyed by the flood such as food, clothes, basic household appliances. UCSI students and staff are working hard to aid the victims of the flood. They had been involved in the flood-relief center in Puchong to help flood victims whereby they purchased and delivered food to the victims. Apart from UCSI Flood Relief Fund, UCSI also contributed RM600 donations to buy some dry and canned foods to assist flood victims. Two alumni teams also assisted to buy and deliver the food to the center. RM1400 worth of food was distributed among the 100 families of the victim.
Although we can not stop natural disasters to occur such as floods, we can gather together to help the victims of the disaster by donating or by volunteering to help them. By providing aid to the victims of the disaster can assist to reduce the effect of floods to a large extent.