Scenes of chaos greeted city folk yesterday evening as raging flood waters turned Jalan Tun Razak into a "river", causing massive traffic jams all over the city.
Prolonged heavy rain earlier, which continued for three hours in the afternoon, had resulted in the water levels rising in Sungai Bunus in nearby Lorong Gurney, and overflowed into Jalan Tun Razak.
The traffic along Jalan Tun Razak - one of the city's main arteries - was subsequently left at a virtual standstill.
A sizeable portion of the road in front of the National Library was flooded, effectively choking off two lanes of traffic.
Reports claimed that sections of the area near the Police Training Centre (Pulapol) were also hit by the flood waters.
Traffic policemen struggled to maintain order and keep vehicles moving by diverting the traffic flow to other areas. Cars which had sustained engine damage due to the rising waters were left abandoned by the roadside.
The flood also left office workers stranded in nearby buildings, including the Bernama headquarters as well as the TM Multimedia College.
Fire and Rescue Department personnel were deployed to rescue students trapped in the college building. The department used boats to ferry the students from their college in Jalan Semarak to safer ground.
Firemen were also called on to rescue 30 children who were stranded at a nearby kindergarten, also in Jalan Semarak. It is understood that two boats were used to bring the children to safety.
Meanwhile, on Twitter, KL-ites were actively updating road users on the flood situation. Users advised others to avoid Jalan Tun Razak which had been closed off and not to head towards Jalan Kuching and Bulatan Pahang, which were also massively congested.
One Twitter user who was stuck in the jam exclaimed: "Holy cow, Jalan Tun Razak is now a river!"
The SMART Tunnel was subsequently closed off to traffic to drain flood waters at 4.38pm. It was reopened at 6.30pm.
