KEMAMAN: An elderly couple, worried about their goats and ducks, have refused to evacuate to a relief centre even though their house is flooded.
“It’s not that we do not want to move, but we are worried that our goats and ducks will be stolen,” said Kamsinah Tubin, 63, and her husband Mohd Yusof Sulong, 65, of Kampung Pulau Tempurung.
Kamsinah said they had already built a high loft next to her house as a temporary shelter in case their house was flooded.
“Usually my house is not affected by the floods, only the surrounding area. That is why there was no need to move. Who would look after the goats and ducks if we move,” she told reporters who called at her house during a check by members of the Rescue Squad from the Kemaman district police today.
Kamsinah started livestock farming 20 years ago and now has over 50 animals under her care.
Asked about food supply and other necessities, Kamsinah said she had bought the items in advance as a precautionary measure.
Kampung Pulau Tempurung village council chairman Mohd Azam Ismail said rescue teams were being inconvenienced by the refusal of some residents, especially senior citizens to move to relief centres.
“At 3am today, we tried to persuade an old couple to evacuate but they were stubborn. Then suddenly at noon, there was a phone call from these folks asking for help because the wife who had diabetes had symptoms of hypoglycemia.
“There was another case of an elderly couple who asked for help to take the paralysed husband to their son’s house because the route to their house was flooded this afternoon,” he said.