KUALA KRAI: At least five people were killed and more than 70,000 rushed to evacuation centers in Malaysia after monsoon-induced flooding flooded the north of the country, authorities said on Wednesday.
More than 31,000 people have fled their homes in Kelantan state while more than 39,000 residents have been evacuated to temporary shelters in neighboring Terengganu after flooding began over the weekend, the official Bernama news agency reported. know.
Emergency services officials said a total of five people were killed.
“The water level reached nearly three meters (10 feet)” Muhammad Ameenudin Badrul Hisyam from the Kuala Krai district in Kelantan told AFP, as he cleared debris from his home after a nearby river overflowed and forced his family to evacuate.
Local media reported four people died in Kelantan on Monday when three sisters were electrocuted while wading in flood water and a 15-month-old boy drowned.
The fifth victim was a two-year-old girl who was swept away by strong currents in Terengganu on Sunday.
Additional evacuations have taken place in the states of Pahang, Johor and Perak, Bernama reported.
Malaysia’s meteorological agency forecast rain to continue through Thursday in several states, including Terengganu.
Flooding is an annual phenomenon in this Southeast Asian country of 33 million people due to the northeast monsoon bringing heavy rains. rain from November to March.
In the same month of last year, the country suffered its worst flooding in its history when more than 50 people died and thousands more were evacuated.
Newly elected Prime Minister of Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim visited affected areas and a school was being used as an evacuation center in Kelantan on Wednesday.
Anwar, who is also the finance minister, said to parliament on Tuesday that the government had initially allocated 400 million Malaysian ringgit ($90 million) for National Disaster Management Agency to deal with emergencies.
Disaster officials said they would monitor aerial flooding in the worst-affected areas.
More than 31,000 people have fled their homes in Kelantan state while more than 39,000 residents have been evacuated to temporary shelters in neighboring Terengganu after flooding began over the weekend, the official Bernama news agency reported. know.
Emergency services officials said a total of five people were killed.
“The water level reached nearly three meters (10 feet)” Muhammad Ameenudin Badrul Hisyam from the Kuala Krai district in Kelantan told AFP, as he cleared debris from his home after a nearby river overflowed and forced his family to evacuate.
Local media reported four people died in Kelantan on Monday when three sisters were electrocuted while wading in flood water and a 15-month-old boy drowned.
The fifth victim was a two-year-old girl who was swept away by strong currents in Terengganu on Sunday.
Additional evacuations have taken place in the states of Pahang, Johor and Perak, Bernama reported.
Malaysia’s meteorological agency forecast rain to continue through Thursday in several states, including Terengganu.
Flooding is an annual phenomenon in this Southeast Asian country of 33 million people due to the northeast monsoon bringing heavy rains. rain from November to March.
In the same month of last year, the country suffered its worst flooding in its history when more than 50 people died and thousands more were evacuated.
Newly elected Prime Minister of Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim visited affected areas and a school was being used as an evacuation center in Kelantan on Wednesday.
Anwar, who is also the finance minister, said to parliament on Tuesday that the government had initially allocated 400 million Malaysian ringgit ($90 million) for National Disaster Management Agency to deal with emergencies.
Disaster officials said they would monitor aerial flooding in the worst-affected areas.
