Flood in Malaysia 12-2013

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KUANTAN, Dec 3 — The flood situation in Pahang has worsened with more that 5,000 people in Flood Relief Centres (FRCs) in four districts this morning.

A spokesman at the Pahang police headquarters said the four districts were Rompin, Kuantan, Pekan and Maran.

“In Rompin 2,595 victims from 23 kampungs have been placed in six FRCs,” he said when contacted by Bernama.

He said in Pekan, six kampungs were inundated forcing 341 people to move to FRCs.

In Kuantan, 23 kampungs were affected causing 1,824 victims to be relocated to 23 FRCs.

In Maran, nine kampungs were hit resulting in 633 victims having to take shelter in seven FRCs.

The situation is expected to worsen further following incessant rain since the past two days.

The spokesman also said that the Sungai Charu bridge at Km28 Jalan Sungai Lembing-Kuantan was closed to all traffic after the water level rose to nearly one metre at the stretch. — Bernama

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Flood situation in Malaysia's four states worsens

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- The flood situation in Malaysia's states of Johor, Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan have worsened with no quick reprieve in sight due to the high tide and rough seas, Malaysian Meteorological Department warned Thursday.

Pahang State is the worst hit, with almost 20,000 people evacuated to 73 relief centres in five districts as of 5 pm Wednesday. A spokesman of the state flood operations centre said Kuantan District alone had more than 12,000 people at 46 relief centres.

Water and electricity supplies were cut off in most areas in Kuantan in the northern state of Pahang on Wednesday after several substations were hit by floods and roads in the city were inundated by up to 1 meter of water.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Shahidan Kassim, who is in charge of the National Security Council, told the parliament that rescue operations went into full swing on Tuesday.

"A helicopter was dispatched to Kuantan to help in operations and I will be heading there myself later today (Wednesday)," he said.

Although rainfall is expected to lessen in the four states, the National Weather Forecast Centre of the Meteorological Department said it would take a few days for the flood waters to subside as the tide was now at its peak of about 4.5 meter high. Endtiem

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http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/xinhua-news-agency/131205/flood-situation-malaysias-four-states-worsens

PETALING JAYA: An orange alert warning has been issued by the Meteorological Department to parts of Pahang and Terengganu.

Its National Weather Forecast Centre director Muhammad Helmi Abdullah said the Level 2 orange warning, issued for Kuantan, Pekan and Rompin (in Pahang) and for Dungun and Kemaman (Terengganu) on Monday, could be lifted if the situation improved.

The yellow warning status indicates weather alert and to make people aware of the situation to take preventive action.

The orange status implies that those in affected areas should prepare themselves to take action in the event of worsening condition.

The red status alert means severe weather warning and people need to take action to protect themselves – this could mean moving families out of the danger zone temporarily.

The department issued its heavy rain advisory orange warning on Monday, saying that intermittent and moderate rain would persist until yesterday and this would cause floods in low-lying areas.

Helmi said floods were the result of heavy rains made worse by high tide.

He said the northeastern monsoon started in November and would end in the third week of March next year but the wettest season would be from November to February.

The monsoon started to hit Kelantan and Terengganu last month and would hit the western and middle parts of Sarawak, from Kuching to Bintulu, later this month, he said.

The monsoon would then hit the eastern parts of Sabah – Sandakan and Kudat – in January, he said.

He said the public could call the department’s central number 03-7967 8116 or the numbers listed for each state on its website.

Residents lift up their washing machine in a house at Chenor, between the border state of Pahang and Terengganu, 300km outside Kuala Lumpur December 6, 2013. — Reuters picKUALA LUMPUR, Dec 8 ― More people were evacuated in Pahang and Terengganu overnight as the east coast states continued to endure the annual monsoon floods which have also struck Kelantan and Johor.

A total of 65,102 people remained at evacuation centres in the four states as of 10 am today, with the largest number of 40,819 in Pahang. Terengganu had 22,391 at its relief centres; Johor, 1,340 and Kelantan, 552.

In Pahang, a spokesman of the Pahang Police flood operations room said all the evacuees were being housed at 149 relief centres.



“Kuantan remains the district with the highest number of evacuees, at 34,426. They are staying at 42 relief centres,” he told Bernama.

Pekan had 3,329 evacuees at 31 relief centres; Maran, 1,034 at 19 centres; Temerloh, 1,002 at 22 centres; Jerantut, 520 at 11 centres; Raub, 209 at 10 centres; Bera, 189 at seven centres; Rompin, at 57 at three centres and Lipis, 53 at four centres, he added.

The spokesman said several stretches of major roads remain closed to traffic, among them Jalan Kuantan-Sungai Lembing at Km28; Jalan Kuantan-Segamat at Km72; Jalan Jerantut-Lipis at Kampung Sepial and Jalan Temerloh-Bera at Km14 and Km18.



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A woman rests next to her baby inside a relief centre after being evacuated at Kemaman, December 6, 2013. — Reuters pic

An evacuee eats inside a relief centre at Kemaman, December 6, 2013. — Reuters pic

An evacuee sits with her children inside a relief centre at Kemaman, December 6, 2013. — Reuters pic

A man sits on a boat in a flood affected area in Temerloh, December 7, 2013. Four states in the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia have been affected by the annual monsoon floods. — Reuters pic

A child swims in the flood waters in Temerloh, December 7, 2013. — Reuters pic

Residents are seen on a boat at a flood affected area in Temerloh, December 7, 2013. — Reuters pic

A resident sits in front of his house at a flood affected area in Temerloh December 7, 2013. — Reuters pic

A child opens the door to a house at a flood affected area in Temerloh December 7, 2013. — Reuters pic

A partially submerged car is seen in front of a house at a flood affected area in Temerloh December 7, 2013. — Reuters pic
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Meanwhile, Pahang Disaster Relief Committee chairman Datuk Seri Muhammad Safian Ismail has acknowledged a delay in the supply of food initially to the relief centres.

He attributed the delay to a sudden and unforeseen rise in the number of evacuees as well as disruption of transport facilities due to floodwaters cutting off roads.

Citing an example, he said there was sufficient food for three days at a relief centre catering to 500 evacuees, but when their number swelled to 1,500 within hours, the food ran out and additional supplies could not reach the centre in time due to the floods.

“The transport problem was compounded by the numerous vehicles parked or stalled along the route to the relief centres, which made it all the more difficult for the lorries bringing supplies to get through,” he said after a visit to the relief centre at Wisma Belia.

Muhammad Safian said enough food had been stocked up at the relief centres since.

He also said that Kuantan registered a record 900 millilitres of rainfall from December 1 to 3, equivalent to thrice the amount for the whole month of December last year.

This resulted in the drainage system being unable to cope with the situation, he said, adding that the improvement of the drainage system in several areas in Kuantan had drained water fast.

In Terengganu, the number of evacuees at relief centres rose to 22,391 overnight.

The portal of the National Security Council attributed the increase to the evacuation of about 360 people in Dungun last night, taking the total number of evacuees in the district to 3,764.

The number of evacuees remains unchanged in Kemaman (18,576); Kuala Terengganu (six); Marang (26) and Hulu Terengganu (19).

The State Public Works Department flood operations room reported that all major roads between Kuala Terengganu and Kota Baharu and Kuala Terengganu and Kuantan were passable to traffic.

The Drainage and Irrigation Department reported that the levels of the major rivers in the state were below the danger point this morning.

In Johor, 1,340 evacuees remain at 20 relief centres in the state, down from 1,538 last night.

The National Security Council portal reported that 582 evacuees were at nine relief centres in Segamat, 413 were at three centres in Pontian, 220 were at four centres in Batu Pahat; 97 were at two centres in Kota Tinggi; 20 were at one centre in Kluang and eight were one centre in Ledang.

The areas in Segamat still affected by the floodwaters were Kampung Sanglang, Kampung Paya Dalam, Kampung Awat, Kampung Pogoh 2, Kampung Batu Badak, Kampung Tandong, Kampung Gemereh III, Kampung Spang Loi and Kampung Kuala Paya while in Batu Pahat, they were Koris, Kampung Parit Haji Kamisan,

Sungai Suloh, Parit Lapis and Kampung Linau Kechil.

In Kota Tinggi, the affected areas were Kampung Mawai Baru and Kampung Perpat; in Pontian, Parit Stan and Tampuk Laut; in Ledang, Kampung Kundang Ulu and in Kluang, Kampung Melayu Batu 4 near Paloh.

In Kelantan, five people were evacuated this morning to a relief centre in Pangkalan Kubor after the Sungai Golok burst its banks, reported the official portal of the state government.

The level of the river in Rantau Panjang was receding but was at 9.52 metres, still above the danger point of nine metres.

The number of evacuees in the state dropped to 552 from 1,613 last night, the portal said, adding that they were house at relief centres in the Pasir Mas and Tumpat districts.

The weather was reported to be fine in Kelantan this morning. ― Bernama
- See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/floods-worsen-overnight-in-pahang-terengganu#sthash.przXzUS0.dpuf

A bird's eye view of flooded streets and residential houses in Kuantan, eastern Malaysia, outside Kuala Lumpur on December 4, 2013. — AFP pic
A bird's eye view of flooded streets and residential houses in Kuantan, eastern Malaysia, outside Kuala Lumpur on December 4, 2013. — AFP pic
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 5 — The flood situation in the East Coast states has worsened with the number of victims being evacuated rising, and one death from drowning and two people reported missing in Pahang.

In PAHANG, a spokesman for the flood operations room at the state police contingent headquarters said Mohamed Alif Khalid, 21, was found to have drowned at 4.15pm yesterday after he was believed to have gone fishing alone at Sungai Kampung Sepial in Kuala Tembeling, Jerantut.

His body was brought to Jerantut Hospital, he told Bernama, here, today.

Meanwhile, Pekan Umno division committee member Jamali Jani, 45, and his son Megat Mohd Nazli Jamali, 17, are believed to be missing after they fell into the flood waters in Sungai Isap village at about 7.30pm yesterday.

The two were said to be removing some household belongings from their submerged house into a fibreglass boat when they fell into the flood waters.

A search operation has been mounted to find them.

According to the spokesman, the number of flood victims evacuated to the relief centres has now reached 38,323 from 9,153 families.

They are placed at 122 relief centres in seven districts.

Kuantan district has recorded the highest number of flood evacuees at 30,307 from 1,561 families, who are accommodated at 85 relief centres.

The spokesman said in Rompin, there were now 4,289 flood victims at 15 relief centres and in Pekan, 3,037 victims at 11 relief centres.

In Maran, there were 637 flood victims at six relief centres, 25 in Jerantut (two relief centres), 21 in Lipis (two) and seven in Temerloh (one), he added.

In TERENGGANU, it was reported that the number of flood victims evacuated to 101 relief centres reached 7,780 this morning compared to 5,393 last night.

According to the National Security Council’s (MKN) portal, the flood situation in the state was increasingly critical when Besut district became the latest to be hit by floods, with 102 victims from 24 families evacuated to six relief centres since 4am today.

As of now, Kemaman district remains the worst hit, with 3,840 victims from 916 families housed at the relief centres.

The Sultan of Terengganu, Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin this morning visited the flood victims at the relief centres in Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Sultan Ismail II and Sekolah Kebangsaan Seri Iman in Kemaman, accompanied by Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Said.

In Dungun, the number of flood victims as at 9am today was 2,130 from 527 families, Hulu Terenganu 1,654 (472 families), Marang 54 (14 families).

The state Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) reported that the water level in most of the main rivers in Terengganu this morning was at the danger level.

In KELANTAN, the number of flood victims continued to rise this morning with 986 compared to 538 last night.

According to the state government’s official portal, Machang, Pasir Mas, Pasir Puteh and Tanah Merah districts were among the latest to be hit by floods.

In Kuala Krai, 646 flood victims from 149 families are at six relief centres and in Machang, 71 victims from 19 families housed at four relief centres.

In Pasir Mas, only 24 victims from one family were evacuated when Sungai Golok in Rantau Panjang reportedly overflowed.

In Pasir Puteh, 109 victims from 29 families were evacuated to three relief centres and in Tanah Merah, 136 from 38 families evacuated to seven relief centres.

The water levels in Sungai Lebir, Sungai Kelantan and Sungai Golok in Rantau Panjang had surpassed the danger level while the water levels in other rivers continued to rise.

As at 10am today, the water level reading in Sungai Lebir at Tualang was 36.19 metres (above the danger level of 35 metres), Sungai Kelantan at Tangga Krai 25.35 metres (danger level - 25 metres) and at Guillemard Bridge at 17.15 metres (danger level - 16 metres.)

The water level in Sungai Golok at Rantau Panjang was at 10.21 metres this morning, above the danger level of nine metres. If the water level continues to rise, more people in Pasir Mas will have to be evacuated.

The weather remained overcast this morning with sporadic heavy rain in the interior areas.

In MALACCA, 25 flood victims from five families in Kampung Parit Penghulu, Sungai Rambai, Jasin were evacuated to Sekolah Kebangsaan Parit Penghulu since yesterday evening after Sungai Kesang nearby overflowed and inundated their homes.

Malacca MKN assistant secretary Maj. Jafri Mohamed said although the rain had not been heavy and the weather was clear today, the river overflowed due to the effects of flooding in Johor which experienced heavy downpours.

He said the water level in Sungai Kesang was at 3.12 metres.

In JOHOR, clear skies were reported this morning in badly-hit Mersing district but there were so signs of the flood waters subsiding yet.

The Malaysian Meteorological Department said the east coast area of Johor were still exposed to high tide which was expected to continue until Monday.

On its website, the department also warned on strong northeasterly wind at a speed of 50 to 60 kph and rough seas with waves up to 4.5 metres in Pahang and east Johor waters.

It said the condition was dangerous for all saling, beach and fishing activities, and ferry service.

According to the KMN portal, as at 11am today, the number of flood evacuees was at 8,793 from 8,705 last night, accommodated at 62 relief centres.

Mersing has the highest number of flood evacuees at 5,716, followed by Segamat (1,052), Kluang (1,005), Pontian (409), Muar (217), Kota Tinggi (212), Batu Pahat (175) and Ledang (seven). — Bernama

- See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/two-missing-as-flood-situation-worsens#sthash.obxruDNo.dpuf