Georgetown was in chaos when an hour-long thunderstorm wreaked havoc in several areas including Macalister Road. The storm caused massive damage of properties, fallen tree, a serious traffic jam, while leaving two people dead, and nine injured.
One of the deceased was a co-driver of a lorry carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders who believed to have died of head injuries after his lorry was hit by a 40m section of a pole which ran alongside the 21-storey Menara Umno in Macalister Road. The victim was identified as Jahir Hussain Sulaiman, 46. Macalister Road suffered the worst.
The other deceased victim, Wong Tze Chow, 32, died after being hit by a falling tree on his way home from work in Air Itam.
The thunderstorm took place around 6.45pm yesterday, resulting in traffic congestion all over the state including Butterworth area. Old trees all over the island were uprooted and fell on vehicles as well as public and private properties.
“It was raining heavily and suddenly a huge tree crashed on the windscreen of my car. I rushed out from the car and I’m grateful that I was not injured,” said Nur, 26, one of the victims.
Image : Macalister Road
Bad traffic on the mainland eased at 8.20pm after fire fighters cleared most of the fallen trees. Both island and mainland were in a huge traffic congestion especially for those who stucked in the middle of the Penang Bridge.
