Once the plane landed around 12 noon on December 26, the Selangor delegation was welcomed by the Deputy Chief Minister of Kelantan, Datuk Nik Mohd Amar Abdullah.

Nik Amar was clearly amazed by the willingness of the Chief Minister of Selangor, Mohamed Azmin Ali, in helping the flood victims in the state.

The delegates were then taken to the Telipot Mosque for the presentation of the Selangor Government’s cheque donation worth RM1 million for the flood victims.

“It was certainly surprising seeing the floods in Kelantan from the plane. I sympathise with the administration and the people of Kelantan on this unexpected occurrence.

“The floods looked like it was worsening. So, we held a special State Executive Council meeting to review the amount.

“They require manpower and the help of the public to restore the surroundings that were hit by the floods. Continuous efforts are needed to help them,” said Mohamed Azmin.

He and his delegation were then taken to the evacuation centre in the Sultan Ismail College, which housed about 2,000 flood victims who were experiencing a shortage of food supplies and necessities.

It was sad to see the elderly, the disabled and children lying on mats who were still able to smile despite being deprived and short of necessities.

Mohamed Azmin’s willingness to visit them, to some extent, reduced their grief caused by their homes and property being flooded by water.

A victim, Mohd Nori Ahmad, 53, said that the donation means a lot to the people who are at evacuation centres across Kelantan.

“Thank you very much YAB Mohamed Azmin Ali and the Selangor Government for your donation,” he said.

“Thank God. May God add sustenance to the government of Selangor for their concern about the flood victims in Kelantan.

“We can bear the loss due to this test a little. I am proud that the Chief Minister of Selangor personally visited us,” said flood victim Sharifah Mariam Syed Alwi, 67.

Various complaints were submitted to the Chief Minister, particularly regarding the limited assistance and many other hardships.

His concern did not stop there.

Mohamed Azmin then waded in water, through the flood on a lorry when a helicopter had to send relief supplies to flood victims in remote areas.

With the help of the Kelantan Exco for Welfare, Mumtaz Mohd Nawi, and the Salor Assemblyman, who is also the PAS Vice President, Datuk Husam Musa, they arrived at the second evacuation centre at Sekolah Kebangsaan Kota, Salor.

Their condition was very poor compared to the Sultan Ismail College – electricity outage and water reaching waist level.

Starving small children were scrambling when biscuits and bread were handed out, and some victims even complained that there had been no rice supply for two days, being in the dark and surrounded by the cries of babies in the heat of the night.

Delegations also experienced difficult moments when they were not allowed to continue their journey to Kuala Krai due to high tide, but Mohamed Azmin was already committed.

He insisted on visiting the locals and waded through water along Jalan Kota Bharu-Kuala Krai, before boarding a boat surveying the area.

It began getting dark along the journey without lights on either side of the road and there were always residents hitching a ride on the delegation’s lorry to get to safer areas.

Delegates also had the opportunity to meet some individuals from Kuala Lumpur who had returned home to check on the situation of their families as communications had been cut off for over two days.

About 10 in the morning the following day, the delegates split into two groups. Mohamed Azmin visited the USM Hospital in Kubang Kerian to call on the PAS Mursyidul Am, Datuk Seri Nik Aziz Nik Mat, who was ill.

He then boarded a helicopter with Husam to check on the flood situation, in addition to visiting flood victims in Kuala Krai.

The second group headed for the Ketereh PAS Flood Operations Room before moving to the evacuation centre at the Kota Bharu Polytechnic in Kok Lanas to extend food assistance before going to the evacuation centre at Sekolah Kebangsaan Pangkal Kalong in Ketereh.

The situation at the two evacuation centres became more critical when there was a water supply outage, making it hard for flood victims to carry out their ablutions and they were only sleeping on the floor.

Apart from finances, Mohamed Azmin also provided other assistance by directing local authorities to help in the post-flood aid mission.

All grievances and complaints of the flood victims were itemised for further assistance so that supplies and necessities can be distributed in the near future.

The delegation was also accompanied by the CM’s political secretary, Shuhaimi Shafiei, state Exco members Dr Daryoah Alwi and Amirudin Shari, as well as the Chairperson of the Selangor Humanitarian Aid Mission Association (PANTAS), Hamsah Djabir.

Upon arriving at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), Mohamed Azmin rushed to visit two flood evacuation centres in Klang to deliver aid.

The centres are at Sekolah Kebangsaan Sungai Binjai in Meru, which housed 47 flood victims, and Sekolah Kebangsaan Abdul Samad in Kapar, which housed 38 flood victims.

The floods were at a depth of 0.6 metres, resulting in drains overflowing due to heavy rain the previous day.

NS