More than 122,000 people were forced to leave 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 floodings in 2014, and disaster officials feared it could rise further as torrential downpours continued.
The death toll remained at four recorded across Kelantan, Terengganu and Sarawak. Kelantan state bore the brunt of the flooding, accounting for 63 per cent 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 rains, 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 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.
“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 neighbourhood,” he told AFP by phone.
“Of course I’m scared … Luckily we have received some assistance from NGOs, 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, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called his Malaysian counterpart, Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim, to convey his sympathies on the deaths and said Pakistan would be dispatching humanitarian assistance to Malaysia.
“Spoke to my dear brother Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Prime Minister of Malaysia to offer our deepest sympathies to the brotherly people of Malaysia on the loss of lives and property caused by recent floods due to torrential rains in several states of Malaysia,” PM Shehbaz said in a post on X.
He added he expressed “deep admiration for the swift response of the Malaysian government to this natural calamity”.
“We shall be immediately dispatching humanitarian assistance to Malaysia as a token of our solidarity,” the premier announced.
He further said the two prime ministers “briefly discussed the next steps in Pak-Malaysia ties and agreed to continue working closely to further strengthen mutual beneficial cooperation”.
According to Radio Pakistan, the Malaysian premier thanked PM Shehbaz for his support and agreed that the two countries need to continue working closely on advancing ties in all important areas.
Both leaders also agreed to continue high-level visits, with both PM Shehbaz and Deputy PM Ishaq Dar expected to visit Kuala Lumpur early next year, the report added.