Help comes through Facebook, Whatsapp for Tanesh and neighbours

The Malaysia Civil Defence Force members evacuating a victim during the flood relief operations in Taman Sri Muda, Shah Alam Saturday night.

SUBANG JAYA, Dec 19 – If there is anything that Covid-19 has taught, it has taught many people to be resourceful, get help for themselves and also be ready to help fellow human beings.

It was this spirit and resourcefulness and social media networking that helped reach Tanesh and several other families stuck in floods in Sri Muda in the nick of time late Saturday night.

While thousands of people have already been evacuated in Selangor and currently in relief centres since the floods began, in some low-lying and inaccessible areas, the help has been hindered.

For Tanesh and neighbours, the ground floor of their houses were already flooded but they did not expect the water to continue to rise but it did while road access to and from their houses was completely cut off.

Tanesh, who also had a disabled father with him, began to panic as his calls to several hotlines could not go through while the waters were steadily rising. He reached out for help in the Facebook.

Renuka from the Be Good Do Good charity organisation quickly responded and called out to the team of BGDG for help.

Within a short period, the team reached out to Tanesh with the help of its President Victor Ooi, and Tengku Hishammuddin Zaizi who managed to reach the JPAM (Malaysia Civil Defence Force) and alerted them of the plight of these families.

The JPAM team reached them in the nick of time to help these families. While the army is going all out to reach the people stuck in floods, with many now placed in temporary shelters, there are also some families who have not been able to return home as the floods have cut off the access to their homes.

Most of these families are either putting up in hotels, or staying with their relatives until the waters ease.

For Renu, whose house in Palm Grove in Klang was flooded yesterday, tonight will be another long night wondering if the house will get flooded again.

“It is raining here again and I just hope the house won’t get flooded again,” she said.

–WE