This post describes the Kuala Lumpur floods of November-December 1925 through contemporary newspaper accounts and eyewitness reports. Major floods also occurred in Kuala Lumpur in December 1926.
The Klang River bursts its banks
In late November 1925, the Klang River had been rising for more than a week swollen by exceptionally heavy rainfall in the Ulu district. In the early hours of Thursday, 26 November 1925, the Klang River overflowed its banks.
Streets and buildings were flooded. The Padang was submerged, and the Chartered Bank and Government Offices situated nearby became inaccessible. Floodwater flowed through the Victoria Institution grounds and across its playing fields which became submerged before reaching the school buildings. The floodwater then rejoined the main river near High Street Bridge.
R. J. H. Sidney described the flooding in the Malayan Saturday Post stating that by daylight on 26 November, the school playing fields at Victoria Institution were almost completely submerged. He said his servants’ quarters were flooded to approximately one foot by late Wednesday night, 25 November, and instructed them to move their belongings into his house.
The centre of the town under water
By 10.30 a.m. on 26 November 1925, floodwater had reached almost the top step of John Little’s department store situated at the intersection of Ampang Street and Embankment Road near Masjid Jamek mosque. The Padang was completely inundated, and the Chartered Bank and Government Departments were forced to close. Residential areas between Kampong Attap Bridge and Petaling Street were submerged, and High Street was flooded. Strong currents near Java Street Bridge prevented rickshaw traffic, and motor vehicles became stranded.
People swam along the flooded Embankment as Embankment road was submerged. Shopkeepers boarded up their shop entrances to prevent flooding, and some became stranded inside their premises and took refuge on upper floors. The Police Depot and other public buildings were flooded, and High Street Police Station and its surroundings were inundated.
Life in the flooded town
At Victoria Institution, the water inside buildings had risen to three feet while Victoria Institution’s cookhouse was submerged under eight feet of water. A temporary outdoor kitchen constructed after the first inundation was subsequently submerged. Pupils were unable to attend school for three days.
R. J. H. Sidney said he considered evacuating his bungalow, with no upper floor, as floodwater continued to rise. While attempting to raise his grand piano, a cobra entered his house.
Some residents sought temporary accommodation in hotels and clubs, and other residents remained stranded in flooded homes. A sampan carrying Post Office workers overturned near the bridge leading to the Post Office, and one passenger was swept downstream.
By the time Sidney’s eye-witness account was published in the newspaper on 5 December, two or three deaths had been confirmed.
One of the most serious consequences of the flood was the failure of the Gombak Lane electric power station which was inundated and stopped operating. Much of Kuala Lumpur was left without electricity. The telephone system failed during the later and more severe inundation.
Part of High Street Bridge collapsed after floodwaters damaged its foundations and plates, and Kampong Attap Bridge became impassable. Movement between the northern and southern parts of Kuala Lumpur was severely disrupted. The railway beneath Damansara Road Bridge was flooded, and trains at Brickfields could not reach the tracks because of the water beneath the bridge.
Postal officials constructed a temporary pontoon using old steel drums to save the mail by removing it from the flooded Post Office. John Little’s and Whiteaway’s ground floors were inundated and shops along Java Street, Holland Road, Market Square and the Embankment suffered damage to their stocks.
The waters recede and the aftermath
Floodwater began to recede during the afternoon of 27 November 1925, but further flooding occurred on 28 and 30 November.
On 1 December 1925, the most serious inundation to date took place. By 5 p.m. on 1 December, floodwater had risen rapidly, and the reported water level had reached 18 feet. Access to the Government Offices, Chartered Bank and Selangor Club became dangerous. More than five feet of water covered the road opposite the Post Office
By the morning of 2 December, water levels had fallen considerably, and during the following day, repair and cleaning operations were underway. Government employees dried books and papers damaged by floodwater, and labourers removed mud and debris.
Settlements on low-lying land in the town suffered extensive damage with poorer residents and squatters being particularly affected. Residents of low-lying Malay kampongs also experienced considerable hardship. Eggs, meat and fish were also reported unavailable in the markets, and the destruction of market gardens resulted in vegetable shortages.
The floods of 1925 had reminded residents of the vulnerability of Kuala Lumpur to the river which ran through its centre.
Further reading
Selected sources
Sidney, R. J. H. “Kuala Lumpur Flooded.” The Malayan Saturday Post Illustrated, December 5, 1925, 9.
“The ‘Great Flood’ of 1926: Environmental Change and Post-Disaster Management in British Malaya.” Ecosystem Health and Sustainability 2, no. 11 (2016): e01248. https://doi.org/10.1002/ehs2.1248.
“Flood Havoc in Malaya.” The Straits Budget, December 4, 1925, 10.