KOTA KINABALU: “I feel so lost and hopeless looking at this pile of mud which used to be my home,” lamented 65-year-old Asin Yumpoh after his house in Kampung Sugud here was damaged by floods.He said the Sept 15 storm was exceptionally strong.

       “It took just five minutes for the whole lower floor of the house to be flooded,” he said when met yesterday.

       Asin’s three vehicles were washed away while items such as furniture, electrical appliances, kitchen utensils and wood stocks he had bought for some home projects were all gone.

       “I have never experienced a flood like this in the 60 years I have been living here,” he said in his native Kadazan language.

       Asin said the two-storey village home that was destroyed used to house three families, including his.

       “Now, how are we supposed to rebuild our home when we’ve lost most of what we owned?” he added.

       Asin said he and the other flood victims were grateful for the contributions from the public.

       “Thank you so much, we really appreciate everything that the people and government are doing to help us,” he said.

       Another victim, Decy Ebol, shared on Facebook about how the flood was no ordinary disaster, but a mudflood that tore through the village and left mud everywhere.

       Her house was among the hundreds affected by the floods in Kampung Sugud and its surrounding villages.

       “Like myself, everyone else has lost their life possessions. We have no roof over our heads, we have no water, no food, we have nothing left,” she said in appealing for contributions from the public.

       Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Dr Jeffery Kitingan, who visited the flood victims, announced that phase three of the flood mitigation project, which was supposed to start next year, would start immediately.

       “The situation is very bad because this is the first time the volume of water or rain was exceptionally high, and because of that the damage was also extraordinarily extensive.

       “That is why the RM9mil flood mitigation project scheduled for next year has been brought forward,” he said.

       He said contractors had already been appointed and their work, which included river widening, would start once all arrangements and procedures were finalised.