Floods displace 122,000 in Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR—More than 122,000 people have been forced out of their homes as massive floods caused by relentless rains swept through Malaysia’s northern states, disaster management officials said on Saturday.
The number surpassed the 118,000 evacuated during one of the country’s worst flooding in 2014, and disaster officials feared it could rise further as there was no letup in torrential downpours.
The death toll remained at four recorded across Kelantan, Terengganu and Sarawak.
Kelantan state bore the brunt of the flooding, accounting for 63 percent of the 122,631 people evacuated, according to data from the National Disaster Management Agency.
Nearly 35,000 people were evacuated in Terengganu, with the rest of the displacements reported from seven other states.
Heavy rain, which began early this week, continued to hammer Pasir Puteh town in Kelantan, where people could be seen walking through streets inundated with hip-deep waters.
“My area has been flooded since Wednesday. The water has already reached my house corridor and is just two inches away from coming inside,” Pasir Puteh resident and school janitor Zamrah Majid, 59, told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“Luckily, I moved my two cars to a higher ground before the water level rose.”
She said she allowed her grandchildren to play in the water in front of her house because it was still shallow.
Isolated
“But if the water gets higher, it would be dangerous, I’m afraid they might get swept away,” she added.
“I haven’t received any assistance yet, whether it’s welfare or other kinds of help.”
Muhammad Zulkarnain, 27, who is living with his parents in Pasir Puteh, said they were isolated.
“There’s no way in or out of for any vehicles to enter my neighborhood,” he told AFP by phone.
“Of course I’m scared … Luckily, we have received some assistance from [nongovernmental organizations], they gave us food supplies like biscuits, instant noodles and eggs.”
The Malaysian Meteorological Department warned that heavy rains will continue until Sunday in Kelantan, Terengganu and Perak.
Floods are an annual phenomenon in the Southeast Asian nation of 34 million people due to the northeast monsoon that brings heavy rain from November to March.
Thousands of emergency services personnel have been deployed in flood-prone states along with rescue boats, four-wheel-drive vehicles and helicopters, said Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who chairs the National Disaster Management Committee.
Meanwhile, flooding driven by heavy rain has killed nine people and displaced more than 13,000 in southern Thailand, officials said on Saturday, as rescue teams using boats and jet skis worked to reach stranded residents.
Thailand
Local media footage showed residents wading through murky, chest-deep water and cars submerged in flooded streets.
“Flooding across eight provinces in southern Thailand has affected 553,921 households and claimed nine lives, prompting agencies to mobilize urgent assistance,” the country’s disaster agency said on its official Facebook page.
More than 13,000 people had been forced to flee their homes, with temporary shelters set up in schools and temples, it added.
Two hospitals in nearby Pattani province suspended operations to prevent floodwaters from damaging medical facilities.
The Thai Meteorological Department has warned that “very heavy rain” could continue to affect some areas of the country’s south through next week.
The government has deployed rescue teams to assist affected residents and designated $1.7 million in flood relief for each province.
Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said Friday on social media platform X that the goal was to “restore normalcy as quickly as possible.”
While Thailand experiences annual monsoon rains, scientists say man-made climate change is causing more intense weather patterns that can make destructive floods more likely.
Widespread flooding across the country in 2011 killed more than 500 people and damaged millions of homes.
