Spillover left passengers in ankle-deep waters in Penang airport

[alberttky 0]

BAYAN LEPAS: An unusually high precipitation in the Bayan Lepas area left many passengers wading through ankle-deep waters at the Penang International Airport on Sunday night.

One such area was the lounge for the budget airlines at the main terminal which was inundated with water as excess rainwater collected on the tarmac had spilled into building. Passengers had to paddle through almost eight-centimetre deep of water to board their flight, which was subsequently delayed.

 

A New Straits Times reader, known only as Peter Brookes, in an e-mail to the editor, said he was afraid to wade through the water as there were live wires on the floor.

 

"Electrical wires were in the water and the floor electrical supplies were not switched off. "The airline and airport duty managers said there was nothing they could do about the rain.

"True, but they could have stopped people from walking through a potential disaster." he said in the e-mail.

 

Meanwhile, Penang International Airport senior manager Mohd Arif Jaafar said the rainfall on Sunday was the highest recorded in Bayan Lepas in recent years. He said the airport staff were caught by surprise by the 'extraordinarily' heavy downpour that ultimately caused flash floods at many parts in Bayan Lepas.

 

"The amount of rain recorded was 52.5mm, which was more than double the heaviest rainfall recorded at 20mm. "We immediately sprung to action and placed suction pumps at affected locations," he said when contacted.

 

Mohd Arif said the heavy downpour, which was accompanied by strong winds, did not stop until 3am. The heaviest bout of rain was between 5pm and 7pm. "We managed to clear all the water in the lounge by 9pm," he said.

 

He said a meeting would be held with airport management to raise the floor of the lounge, meant mostly for turbo-prop aircrafts, and other remedial measures to ensure the incident would not recur.

 

Meanwhile, motorists were caught in a gridlock near the airport as several sections of Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah and Jalan Bayan Lepas were flooded. It was learnt that the access roads and several sections of Bukit Belah nearby had experienced flash floods, compounding to the already jammed up roads.

 

The traffic only eased after many hours, with many detouring at a U-turn next to Kompleks Tabung Haji here.

 

 

Read more: Spillover left passengers in ankle-deep waters in Penang airport - Latest - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/latest/spillover-left-passengers-in-ankle-deep-waters-in-penang-airport-1.347987#ixzz2dk2trpbE

[kandiah k 0]

Who is accountable for incidents like these when it happens? I am sure they will investigate why this happened and it would cost a lot for the damages caused.

[Mohd Suhaimi Fariz 2]

This was an act of god so the responsibility doesn't lie with anyone on Earth...

[kandiah k 0]

Haha...true true...but I meant that there has to be an investigation given the track record of the airport construction which had mishaps prior to this due to low quality construction and/or lack of something.