KUALA LUMPUR, December 20 — Disaster relief volunteer ‘Abang Viva’ has been spotted in flood-stricken Terengganu along with his wife and a group of volunteers.
Arriving there on Sunday, ‘Abang Viva’ or his real name Azwan Omar and his team from Abang V-Va Movement Welfare Organisation, have been conducting rescue operations in the Hulu Terengganu area, reported Sinar Harian.
The viral sensation made headlines in December last year, travelling from Melaka in his Perodua Viva with only RM50 in his pocket to help out flood victims in the Klang Valley.
In March he was seen helping out flood victims in the east coast, before introducing the Abang V-Va Movement Welfare Organisation in August this year.
Joining forces with the Fire and Rescue department this time around, the group were involved with rescuing residents in Kuala Berang, Hulu Terengganu, facing restricted movement due to routes closed due to severe flooding.
Azwan via a Facebook post admitted that their rescue mission this time around had proven to be more challenging than before, mainly due to the continuous rain, strong and deep water current along with an ‘uncooperative’ boat engine that worsened the situation.
In a recent update, Azwan shared that he and his team arrived safely in Jerteh yesterday afternoon after a two-hour journey from Kuala Berang.
He shared a drone footage of the flooding situation in Kuala Berang.
Meanwhile, Azwan’s wife, Evanoza Zakaria, shared that they have been trying to conduct rescue operations in Jerteh since arriving yesterday but were unable to due to strong water currents,
She was sad to have to leave the village especially after coming across an old couple who was seen calling for aid in one of the clips she shared on Facebook.
“As you can see, the water current is really strong and we are unable to get across to the aunty and uncle over there.
“The current is really really strong, we will not make it even by boat,” Evanoza said in one of the clips.
As they couldn’t get across to the village yesterday, they ended up helping those living in lower-risk areas.
The team however returned to the village today to help with what they could as floodwaters had receeded.
Evanoza also shared that they have managed to visit the trapped old couple in the clip and were grateful that both of them are safe.
The older woman was heard telling Evanoza that they were crying out for help from the house as they felt their house could have been swept away by the flood yesterday.
Azwan was recently awarded the Medal of Service by the Yang Dipertua Negeri-of-Melaka, Tun Mohd Ali Mohd Rustam for his contributions in helping flood victims.
