Severe flash floods inundate KL, cause landslide in suburb

Parliament session temporarily suspended; top university not spared from rising waters

- Azril Annuar

KUALA LUMPUR - Severe flash flooding triggered by early morning heavy rain inundated Malaysia's capital and its surrounding areas on Oct 15, causing a Parliament session to be temporarily suspended and triggering a landslide in Taman Melawati, a suburb on the north-eastern outskirts of the city.

Malaysia's most prestigious public university, Universiti Malaya, located a 20-minute drive from the city centre, was also not spared from the rising waters.

Video footage posted on social media showed fast-flowing water flooding campus roads, while another widely shared video showed kindergarten pupils in Gombak, Selangor, standing on tables as the water rose around them.

The Klang Valley area, which includes Kuala Lumpur, has seen unseasonably heavy rain in the past couple of weeks, several weeks ahead of the usual November to January monsoon season.

CCTV footage from Kuala Lumpur City Hall's (DBKL) transport information system showed several flooded roads in the city.

Severe traffic disruption was observed in major trunk roads into the city, such as Jalan Perak, Jalan Travers (near Bangsar) and the Sultan Iskandar Highway.