Taman Desa's Perfect Storm

If you happened to be in Taman Desa on the 25th of January this year, you would have seen something pretty amazing at around 6.30pm. Out of nowhere, a storm hit Kuala Lumpur and Taman Desa seemed to have borne the brunt of it. Picture a scene from the movie The Perfect Storm (George Clooney's epic battle against an Atlantic storm) and simply take out the waves. What's left were hurricane-like winds that literally tore roofs of buildings and uprooted trees. I only realized it after driving home to find my preferred entrance to Taman Desa (via the Waterpark) blocked by trees. Then I found the lakeside entrance also blocked. Finally, I had to enter via Taman Bukit Desa and navigated my way through the main street - Jalan Desa Utama - as a drizzle continued unabated. The sight of huge trees uprooted and leaning on house walls was humbling. Then came the sight of felled lamp-posts and low-hanging cables. Trees criss-crossed the road, making the journey look more like an off-road trail in the rainforest. Here's a glimpse of what I took:

Rain made navigating a real challenge for motorists

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Cables and debris forced cars to slow down

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Inevitably, we all encountered a jam as we made our way closer to Casa Desa

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This guy had a very lucky escape

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The other down-side is that - with the time it took to get home from work - a planned attendance with some other relatives for our CNY dinner had to called off. Here's a glimpse of the wreckage the day after. It was taken on the same street as I made my way to work:

Small trees weren't spared the damage

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The scary part was seeing lamp-posts bringing down live cables with them on the road

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I used to buy fruits from this seller. Thankfully, it was business as usual a couple of days later

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One of Taman Desa's best-known features is its leafy ambiance. Large trees can be found all over the place, providing a useful shade for pedestrians and a welcome verdant view that few KL-ites would enjoy (you'd have to reside in the fringes of the city to really see something better). The recent windy calamity highlighted an obvious weakness. But I doubt anyone will be spooked by this. The trees will continue to be a part of the suburb, and nature will continue to sometimes mete out a forced trim or two.