Malaysians in Brisbane are on edge as floods continue to worsen in various parts of the city

Malaysians in Brisbane on edge as floods worsen
By SHARIN SHAIK

PETALING JAYA: Malaysians in Brisbane are on edge as floods continue to worsen in various parts of the city.

Professor Rusdin Laiman of Queensland University of Technology had to leave his home and seek refuge with a fellow Malaysian, who is staying on higher ground in Highgate after his home in Toowong was almost completely submerged in water.

He said the power supply to the Central Business District has been shut off and all roads closed.

“It is devastating, the university is closed, offices are closed, and the situation is expected to get worse.

“There are many Malaysians here who had to leave their homes to live with friends or go to evacuation centres because many suburbs here are flooded,” he said in a telephone interview on Wednesday.

Griffith University student Lidiana Rosli who lives in Robertson says that the town is on standby for evacuation.

“Before this, it did not register with me because I only saw the floods on TV,” “Yesterday, it was terrifying to see the river bank break because I finally came to the realisation of what was happening,” she said in a telephone interview.

According to Lidiana, many people left work early in a panic to stock up on food and by afternoon, the grocery stores were almost completely depleted of stocks.

She is ready for an emergency evacuation however. The nearest evacuation centre from her home - the ANZ Stadium in Nathan -is a 25-minute-walk away.

According to Australia’s Courier Mail, the death toll of the flood has risen to 12 and 67 people are missing so far.