Flood!
Sandakan, Including Sepilok area have been raining for the past 130HRS - that's 5 days of persistent rainfall! On the 4th day, the effects finally made their late & much pronounced arrival in the wee hours of a misty morning.The disturbing scene of land-slides,floods,fallen trees left & right was apparent as I manoeuvred through the obstacle course towards town. I've never seen a more damaging monsoon than this! The kids camping near our grounds, had to evacuate in the middle of the night when a surge of water fromt the nearby rivers gushed into their camps.
By the time Anton reached the retreat, The main road access to Sepilok & to our retreat was already completely flooded to knee height.We had no choice but to row a boat & thread in the muddy waters to get some of our guest to the airport. Fortunately the waters receded by 1pm & we quickly had a good gauge of the damages/potential risk if rain persisted.There was some soil movements .But luckily nothing major, Some hardcore "Jungglies'' insisted coming the next day & no flood or storm or torrential rain could dampen the spirit of a good Jungle lover. Mr Tamada,his wife, 2 kids & a stray dog all stood waiting on the seats of the Sepilok junction bus stop when we finally got to them up.
As our car waded through the precarious roads near BDC/SIM SIM/BDR RAMAI
(where slumps,poorer local community are),The painful revelation of what poverty can do hit me. Even in life threatening situations poverty simply leave you with limited choice.Drove by an old apartment block, the landslide from a dangerously close mountain rushed past the back doors, crashing through the corner lot restaurant & emerging from the front door & strangely neighbours left & right from the same block just went about doing their usual routine without evacuation ever crossing their minds. Later that day we got to know the owner of that particular restaurant was 1 of 3 accounted for casualties.
It is,... STILL absolutely pouring outside.As I lay warm & snug in the covers with great gratitude for the security that god have given us,I can't help but think of those who literally have to battle through another stormy night.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteWhen we visited the Kinabatangan area from Sepilok a few years ago we also experienced this much rainfall (I guess). We were lucky though as on both travel days it stopped raining for only the few hours we needed to get from Sepilok to Kinabatangan (and back 3 days later). Our driver was very afraid of the water 'Air Banjir' or something he said all the time. Many cars were stuck in the mud the day we went back. Luckily our 4x4 was able to drive through everything. We were also lucky with the type of 4x4, we saw many 'brand new 4x4's' stuck too, but our old landcruiser slided through the mud and water.
If you would pick a time of the year when there is more rainfall than at other times; would that be around January then? Is there an actual monsoon season in that part of Sabah?
Thanks,
Ilya Houben
Webmaster of Wonderful Malaysia
Hi Ilya,
ReplyDeleteErmm Technically we do have a moonsoon.usually around Dec - feb.2 mths of non-stop round the clock rain.Seas will also swell up & some island resorts actually close off altogether. But last year it went on to April..nowadays we also get lotsa random typhoon passing by from philipines - so thats like a week of eeeky tempremental weather.