JASIN, Jan 11 (Bernama) — For the sake of her pets, a woman is willing to brave the stagnating floodwaters at her house in Kampung Lanchang near here for the past nine days to ensure that her cats always have enough food.
Kamsiah Umar, 50, said that despite the fact that she had to stay at her sister’s house in Merlimau to look after their sick mother, she would make a point at 8 am daily, to check on her 20 cats by bringing fish mixed with rice for them.
“Since the flood hit on Jan 2, these cats have had to be left at home, as well as the cats under the care of other siblings who live next door, but we would make sure they are all placed in a high and safe area until the water recedes.
“I worry a lot about my cats, ‘Donde’, ‘Tempe’, ‘Oren’, ‘Barleybear’, ‘Putih’, ‘Musang’ and others, if they have enough food. All my family members also love cats and there are also other siblings who also help send food for cats in the afternoon,” she said when met by Bernama here today.
Kamsiah said that she hoped the stagnant floodwaters in their house area would recede completely, as it was the second time she had faced such a calamity in less than two days, after finishing cleaning the house after the first wave of floods occurred in mid-December.
Kamsiah, who works as a factory operator in Merlimau, said that she could not go to work for almost 20 days.
“I could hardly catch a breather because after cleaning up the house the floods recurred, but such is the test of life. I just have to calm down and accept it as it is,” she said.
Meanwhile, Awang Umar, 54, said that he could not wait to return home because he had stayed at the temporary relief centre (PPS) of Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Parit Penghulu for 11 days, and another nine days at PPS SK Seri Mendapat.
He also hoped that the relevant parties could find a solution to the problem of frequent flooding soon, as he and six other families in the area did not wish to face such a situation again in the future.
“The first time the water level was only at calf level but this time it was at waist level. I only returned home for two days after the first time and the nearby river water started to overflow in the evening, and as expected our area was flooded again,” he said
Source: BERNAMA News Agency