After heavy rainfall battered the Maldives on Friday, Several residences and shops in the congested capital Malé City suffered significant damage due to the intense flooding caused by the downpour.

Some shops in many areas of Malé in particular were flooded, causing extensive damage to their goods.

Friday’s downpour caused flooding in parts of the capital city, with water entering homes and shops. Several parties have expressed their concerns about the damage to RaajjeTV.

Naseer, the owner of the shop believed to have suffered the most damage, stressed that his shop was completely flooded, leaving all items soaked and ruined. He highlighted that the shop featured many expensive goods that are now destroyed.

Naseer stressed that the shop's entrance was designed to be high enough to prevent water from entering during regular rainfall, but the unusually heavy rain on Friday and throughout the night caused the water level to rise and flood the shop. He explained that water mainly entered the shop due to vehicles including cars and motorcycles speeding through the flooded streets, creating massive waves that surged into the shop.

Naseer said he had to come out yielding a rod to slow down the cars and motorcycles passing by. He also said he advised those driving not to speed through the water in that manner.

Naseer said that even while they were struggling to deal with the flood water in the shop, no police officers came to the scene, and they received no assistance from them at the time. He said he felt very disappointed, and the only help came from two passersby, whose support was crucial in preventing further water from entering the shop.

Naseer said that the police are supposed to be there to help the general public in such incidents or disasters, but despite repeated requests for help, no assistance was received from the police at the time. He shared that, feeling helpless and anxious about the water flooding the shop, he had been pleading for police assistance since sunset, repeatedly dialing the police service number '119'.

Stressing that he only received a sandbag to place at the shop entrance after pleading and calling 119 numerous times for three hours, Naseer highlighted that each time he called, the police response was always the same; “we’re coming” or “we’re on our way”. Even after three long hours, the police had not provided any further assistance.

Further, Naseer said that as the streets flooded during Friday’s heavy downpour, many shops struggled to even find a sandbag to block the floodwater.

He said that he worked tireless until midnight trying to salvage the goods inside the shop. As the shop specializes in gold and silver items, he explained that the value of any damaged or lost merchandise could amount to thousands of Maldivian Rufiyaa.

In addition to this, another individual, Rilwan Latheef, who led the effort, shared his concerns. He described how they dug a channel to the sea near Rasfannu in an attempt to protect the many houses and shops in the Maafannu district from the damage caused by the continuous rain in Malé on Friday and through the night.

Taking to social media to share a video clip showing the level of floods that had affected the region on Majeedhee Magu, stretching from Maafannu Cemetery towards the west, Rilwan wrote that after receiving no response from authorities, they took matters into their own hands by breaking down a wall near Rasfannu and digging a channel to the sea to drain the floodwater.

Some media outlets have also reported Rilwan’s story. However, certain high-ranking government officials claimed that it wasn't the public who did this, but employees of the water company. As a result, some media outlets have since revised their headlines to reflect this new narrative.

However, speaking to RaajjeTV about the reports, Rilwan clarified that they obtained a crowbar from a nearby shop and used it to break down a ramp-like structure nearby. He explained that the floodwater drained through the area they paved.

Rilwan said many members of the public in the area actively participated in the effort and expressed confusion as to why government officials were trying to deny that it was the public who had taken action.

Further, Rilwan said that throughout the entire effort, they received no assistance from any relevant authority, and none of the officials even came to the area.

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has stated that they provided temporary shelter and food to 226 people from 36 households who were inconvenienced due to flooding in Malé on Friday.

NDMA said that 774 places reported requesting assistance due to flooding, of which 554 requested sandbags to mitigate water entering their premises.