Business premises owners embarked on a major clean-up today following the flash floods which hit this town following a sudden downpour yesterday afternoon.

The floods caught the residents unawares and many were unable to save their belongings and goods.

A check by Bernama showed that only several telecommunications and eatery shops were open.

flood in kajang A goldsmith who introduced himself as Chau, 52, said flood waters rose in just a matter of minutes, catching them off-guard.

"I've been conducting business here since 17 years ago and although there had been rain and floods in the past, we never expected that the flood could be this bad," he said, estimating his losses to reach up to RM40,000.

A worker at a convenience store, Siti Hamira, 21, said the floods damaged a large amount of new stocks as well as those on display.

"There was simply no time to save them," she said.

A worker at a telecommunications shop said the clean-up would be carried out in stages.

"Although we are still cleaning up the shop, we open it for business today because we don't want to suffer further losses," he said.

Stalled vehicles towed

Kajang Municipal Council workers were also busy cleaning up the road and towing stalled vehicles and motorcycles.

Kajang assemblyperson Lee Kim Sin said flood mitigation projects were implemented in 2008 which included widening the Sungai Jelok and channelling the water to Sungai Langat as well as building flood retaining walls measuring 1.5-meter high.

However, the rainfall was too high, causing the water at Sungai Jelok and Sungai Langat to overflow, he said.

- Bernama