Pahang is among the five states that have been hit by floods. (Facebook pic)
PETALING JAYA: Amid rising flood waters in Kuantan, Pahang, one avid football fan delayed his evacuation to a temporary relief centre for the sake of watching the World Cup final last night.
Despite floodwaters reaching knee-level at Ridzwan Ismail’s home in Kampung Alur Ladang by 11pm, the 58-year-old was adamant on watching the final game of the tournament, between his favourite team, Argentina, and defending champions France.
Though his wife had been evacuated before the match started, Ridzwan decided to stay behind and was able to watch the first half of the match, Berita Harian reported.
“I stayed at the house alone just to watch the World Cup. However, when the floodwaters got higher, I moved to a relative’s house which was not too far away to watch the rest of the game, including the awards presentation ceremony.
“I’m satisfied since my team managed to win the World Cup, and my favourite player, Lionel Messi, managed to score two goals,” he was quoted as saying when interviewed at the SK Beserah temporary relief centre.
Ridzwan finally moved to the relief centre early this morning after the live coverage had ended.
He said floodwaters started entering his home through the kitchen door around 9pm last night, and eventually reached chest-level by 2am.
“The water wasn’t rising that fast at first. That is why I didn’t really mind watching the game even with the floods. In fact, I’m already used to the floods. My house is affected by floods every year.
“However, I do believe this year’s floods are the worst in the 22 years that I’ve lived here,” he added.
Pahang became the latest state to be hit by floods today, bringing the total number of states affected by floods to five as of this morning.
There had been a sharp increase in the number of flood victims in Terengganu and Kelantan while the situation was unchanged in Johor and Perak.
