At least four people have died and nearly 41,000 were evacuated in
Malaysia after floodwaters caused by "unusual" torrential rains lasting
days swept through several states, officials hase said.
Local
reports and social media posts on Saturday showed images of flooded
roads, submerged cars, waterlogged homes and rows of shops closed in the
affected areas, mainly in the southern state of Johor near neighbouring
Singapore.
The rains have continued unabated, hampering relief efforts.
Police
said at least four people have died since Wednesday, including a man
whose car was swept away by floodwaters and an elderly couple who
drowned.
Nearly 41,000 people from six states, although mostly
from Johor, have been evacuated to schools and community centres where
food, water, and clothes were provided.
The latest fatality was a 68-year-old woman who drowned near her
flooded house after she left an evacuation centre in Segamat town in
Johor, police said.
In the Johor town of Yong Peng, AFP news
agency journalists saw a family wading in brownish waters above
knee-deep outside their home, with their children using tyre tubes as
floats.
Safiee Hassan, 38, said he and his family managed to save their refrigerator, sofa and some electrical items.
"Other things like our bed, mattress, cupboard, are damaged," he told AFP.
Malaysian Nature Society president Vincent Chow told AFP these were the worst floods to hit Johor since 1969.
"Now, the weather is unpredictable. Climate change has outfoxed the weatherman," he said.
Chow
said he had received urgent calls for help from villagers living along a
riverbank in Peta village, about 120 kilometres (70 miles) north of
Yong Peng.
"People are crying for food and medicine. The only way to provide food and clothes is by air," he said.
'Unusual' rainfall volume
But Meenakshi Raman, president of environmental group Friends of the Earth Malaysia, said the large volume of rainfall is "unusual" at this time
of the year, blaming the flooding on the lack of green spaces."Forest
and land clearings in the upper reaches of our rural areas, towns and
cities lead to our rivers and drains choked with soil erosion and they
cannot contain the increased volumes of rainfall," Meenakshi said.
"Moreover, the over-concretising of areas also leads to overflows of water, as there is little green left to act as sponges."
She
warned that the people and authorities were "not paying enough
attention to increasing our adaptive capacities to these increasing
unusual weather events".
The Meteorological Department has warned that the rain could go on until April.
"But we are not doing enough to build our climate resilience by protecting our forests, soils and rivers and creating sponge cities that are able to absorb increasing rainwaters," Meenakshi said."Business as usual approaches must stop and we must reduce and minimise the impacts of such intense rainfalls," she said.
Some victims were fatalistic.
"We just accept this, whatever God has given. What can we do?" said Kabibah Siam, 54.
"We cannot moan about our luck because over here, everyone is going through the same thing."
Source: AFP
Social media is bold.
Social media is young.
Social media raises questions.
Social media is not satisfied with an answer.
Social media looks at the big picture.
Social media is interested in every detail.
social media is curious.
Social media is free.
Social media is irreplaceable.
But never irrelevant.
Social media is you.
(With input from news agency language)
If you like this story, share it with a friend!
We are a non-profit organization. Help us financially to keep our
journalism free from government and corporate pressure .
0 Comments