The house of Yussop Mohammad sustained extensive damage due to the storm that struck at about 9.30 pm on Wednesday in Kampung Patau-Patau, Labuan. Several houses in the water village were severely damaged when the roofs were blown away by strong winds during the storm. – Bernama photo
LABUAN: Thunderstorms lashed this duty-free-island from Wednesday night till the wee hours of yesterday (July 15), bringing down trees, damaging houses and snapping overhead power lines.
However, no casualties were reported.
The Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) had issued yellow alerts of category one for six areas including Labuan, Sabah and Sarawak from July 13, indicating the possibility of heavy rainfall and rough seas.
Fire and Rescue Services personnel attended to between 10 and 20 calls for assistance.
MetMalaysia Labuan director Norasmawati Shahlal said the continuous heavy rain was due to wind convergence in the vicinity of Labuan, western Sabah and its waters.
“The MET ((MetMalaysia) had issued weather alert warnings a couple days ago on the heavy rain and rough sea condition…the bad weather is expected to persist today,” she told Bernama.
According to Fire and Rescue Department officials, the storm caused damage to several houses at the water villages of Patau-Patau 2 and Pohon Batu.
One of the victims was Yussof Mohamad, 54, whose house in Patau-Patau 2 was damaged badly with the rooftop blown away by the strong winds.
“The storm brought down trees and heavy branches on the main roads in our area of Kampung Pohon Batu and a house was also partially damaged by a falling tree,” said its village head Haryadi Omar.
Several houses in low-lying areas were also inundated knee-high due to flash floods. – Bernama