YONGPENG: At least four people have died and nearly 41,000 displaced in Malaysia as “unusual” torrential rains inundated several states, officials said on Saturday. Told on Saturday.
Local reports and social media posts showed images of flooded roads, submerged cars, flooded houses and rows of shops in affected areas, particularly in the southern state of Johor near neighboring Singapore.
The rains continue unabated, hampering the relief operations.
At least four people have died since Wednesday, including a man whose car was swept away by floodwaters and an elderly couple who drowned, police said.
🚨🇲🇾At least 1 dead, several missing and 26,000 people evacuated as floods hit #Malaysia. pic.twitter.com/aW5OrhkxIA
— Terror Alarm (@Terror_Alarm) March 2, 2023
About 41,000 people from six states – but mostly from Johor – have been moved to schools and community centers where food, water and clothing have been provided.
The latest fatality was a 68-year-old woman who drowned near her flooded home as she left an evacuation center in Johor’s Sigmat town, police said.
In the Johar town of Yongpeng, JEE News journalists saw a family wading in knee-deep water outside their home in brown, their children using inner tire tubes as floats.
Safi Hassan, 38, said she and her family were able to save their refrigerator, sofa and some electrical items.
“Other things like our beds, mattresses, wardrobes have been damaged,” he told JEE News.
Vincent Chow, president of the Malaysian Nature Society, told JEE News it was “essentially the worst flooding in Johor” in five decades since 1969.
He said that now the weather is unpredictable.
He added that he had received an urgent call for help from villagers living along the river in Pita village, about 120 kilometers (70 miles) north of Yongpeng.
“People are crying for food and medicine. The only way to deliver food and clothes is by air,” he said.
Malaysia has been experiencing unprecedented sustained torrential rains since the annual monsoon season started in November. Its worst flooding in decades last occurred in 2014, forcing nearly 118,000 people from their homes.
The Southeast Asian nation often experiences stormy weather later in the year, with seasonal floods regularly causing mass evacuations and deaths.
‘Unusual’ rainfall volume
But Meenakshi Raman, president of environmental group Friends of the Earth Malaysia, said the high volume of rain at this time of year was “unusual”, blaming the flooding on a lack of green space.
“Deforestation and land clearing in our rural areas, towns and cities lead to our rivers and streams being choked by soil erosion and unable to absorb the increased amount of rainfall.
“Also, overconcretization of areas also leads to water runoff, as there is little green left to act as a sponge.”
The Meteorological Department has warned that the rains may continue till April.
Some victims were fatal.
“We just accept what Allah has given. What can we do?” 54-year-old Kabiba Syam said.
“We can’t bemoan our fate because everyone here is going through the same thing.”
