The Star, Friday 10th March 2006

Like a scene from the movie ‘Twister’

SUBANG JAYA: Like a scene from the movie Twister, residents scurried for cover as strong winds and heavy rain lashed this township for 30 minutes yesterday evening.

“It was like a typhoon,” said Francis Perera, 50, a golf accessories supplier, who resides in SS14.

“I was driving back from a meeting and the wind was so strong that I had to pull over.

“This is the first time I have experienced something so unnatural as this storm.”

Harmani Mohan, a retired teacher also from SS14, said she was nearly hit by a falling tree when she rushed home as soon as the violent winds started.

“I was at a friend’s house in the area and when the winds came, I got into my car and sped home. I just got into my house when a tree fell onto the compound,” she said.

Alan Kok, 50, a dog food salesman who lived in the area for over 25 years, said he saw roof tiles blown off houses and shoplots.

“I was shocked. I have never seen this kind of wind before in my life,” he said.

Ann Marie Chan, also from SS14, said the storm caused her roof to leak.

“Trees have also fallen on the roads in front of my house. Everything is in a mess,” said the journalist.

Businessman Gan Wee Yet, who owns a shop in SS14, said he saw the evidence of strong winds coming from both the right and left sides of the SS15 area behind the wet market.

“The wind was so strong, it felt like a hurricane. It’s so weird as this is the first time we see this happening. Roof tiles were flying all over the place and partitions were falling on cars,” said Gan.

May Cheong Mizuan, who rents a place in SS18, said heavy rain started at about 3pm.

“I was beside my son who was taking a nap. All of a sudden, I heard thunder and a loud thumping sound on the roof, probably 10 times louder than the sound of thunder.

“Before I know it, water was already trickling into my room. Now, water is all over the place because I think the roof was blown off,” said Cheong.

Another resident who only wanted to be known as Siva said: “It sounded like a war zone with the wind and rain beating down on our area.”

Subang Jaya assemblyman Datuk Lee Hwa Beng said he was in his car when the downpour struck all of a sudden.

“I think more than 100 trees were uprooted in SS13, SS14, and from SS12 to SS19,” he said. Lamp-posts were also down on the roads. But there were no serious floods, just flash floods.”