THE FLOODING CHINESE NEW YEAR IN SIBU

Well, it has been raining in Sibu since December 2008. It continues to rain till after Chinese New Year. Many visitation plans were canceled or delayed because of the flood here and there. Sometimes when we want to go visit somebody, we need to call to check if their residences were flooded. Others we need to think what is the best way to reach a destination with the least chances of getting wet.



Tiong Hua Road is among the lowest areas in Sibu and we intended to visit a friend who stayed nearby, just a road away. At first, we went with the Perodua Kelisa and it was impossible to go through. We had to return and change to a Toyota Hilux to get through the flooding zones. The last days of my visit during Chinese New Year in Sibu is either using the Toyota Hilux or the Toyota Land Cruiser. There is no choice, you will only dare to go through with those big tyres of the four wheel drives.



As you can see, we have to use boots to go into the house to do the visiting. The photos show my mom to my brother to my sister to myself taking turns with two pairs of boots to enter the house.







Well, the flood also caused major jams at the roads. I canceled my plan to go to watch a movie many times because I could not enter the cinema using the Kelisa. I should have switch to the Hilux instead. As Sibu is located at a very low swampy area as well as among the lowest altitudes in Malaysia terrains, it is very easy to get flooded. Some houses are even more unlucky as their ground floor is flooded. They have to spend time moving things to the upper floor. For those single storey houses, I really don't know what they can do. I had seen vehicles stuck in the flood with water as high as the level of the windshield. No kidding! What an experience!