In one of the worst floodings, residents flee to
                 safer ground while traffic comes to a halt.
                 Several road accidents have also been reported

                 KUALA LUMPUR -- One of the worst flash floods
                 wreaked havoc in the city, sending 1,000 residents
                 fleeing to safer ground.

                 After a four-hour downpour, the Klang, Bunos and
                 Gombak rivers' banks overflowed late Sunday
                 afternoon, resulting in flood waters rising between one
                 and two metres in some places.

                 Traffic in the city and Petaling Jaya came to a
                 standstill and several roads, including Lebuh Ampang,
                 Jalan Masjid India, parts of Jalan Ampang, Jalan Tun
                 Razak, Jalan Melaka, Kampung Baru, Jalan Tun
                 Perak and Jalan Tun Sambanthan, were rendered
                 impassable for hours.

                 "The situation became worse when drivers and
                 passengers abandoned their vehicles in the flood," a
                 spokesman for the city traffic headquarters said.

                 A highway official said the downpour had also caused
                 several road crashes at the Nilai-Seremban stretch of
                 the North-South Expressway.

                 No casualty was reported.

                 Up to 9pm on Sunday, teams from City Hall, police,
                 the Fire and Rescue Department and other agencies
                 were still evacuating people from affected areas in
                 Kampung Haji Abdullah Hukum and Kampung
                 Limau.

                 The victims were ferried in boats to higher ground as
                 flood waters reached dangerous levels.

                 They were temporarily housed in a community hall in
                 Kampung Kerinchi. One of the victims, S. Indera, 40,
                 said she and her husband were watching television
                 when water started to enter their house.

                 She said Sunday's floods were the worst as far as she
                 could remember.

                 Another victim, Muhd Azlan, 24, said he rushed
                 home upon receiving news that his house was
                 flooded.

                 "My belongings were taken to higher ground by my
                 neighbours," he said.

                 Librarian Hisyam Nelson, 42, who was in the city
                 yesterday evening, said several cars were stalled in
                 Jalan Tun Perak in waist-high water.

                 "I was stuck at the Masjid Jamek LRT station where
                 water was knee-deep," he said.

                 National Electricity board Tenaga Nasional said 12
                 substations were submerged, causing blackouts in
                 several parts of the city centre. -- The Star/Asia
                 News Network, New Straits Times

                      Adapted from The Straits Times, 2 May 2000.