KUCHING: Villagers at Kampung Hulu in Serian, Sarawak, are facing the difficult task of cleaning up their homes as floodwaters begin to recede.

Mas Idayah Ismail, 31, was seen sweeping out muddy water from her living room and removing damaged furniture.

She said her family was unable to save most of their furniture and refrigerator on the ground floor because the floodwaters rose unexpectedly last Thursday.

“It was all so sudden. When we came downstairs to check, about 15cm of water had already entered our house. “We only managed to save some smaller items as we didn’t expect the water to rise so quickly,” Mas Idayah said yesterday.

She said this was the worst flood the village had experienced since 2015, when a similar disaster occurred. Another villager, Nor Atifah Abdullah, spent more than four hours cleaning her kitchen and living room.

“I’m doing what I can now that the water has started receding,” she said.

Many residents from Kampung Hulu, about 64km from here, were evacuated to temporary relief shelters when the floods hit.

However, Habib Madini was unable to leave because his elderly mother, who is wheelchair-bound, could not move on her own.

“We decided to stick it out at home. Rescue personnel came twice but they couldn’t move my mother as she’s quite heavy,” he said, adding that his family lives on the first floor.

Serian was among the worst flood-affected divisions in Sarawak, along with Bintulu.

As of 2pm yesterday, 1,536 people were still sheltering in seven temporary evacuation centres in the division.