Meera Vijayan and Farik Zolkepli, The Star 6 Dec 07;
JOHOR BARU: Continuous rainfall over the last 24 hours has caused floods in five districts in Johor.
As at 2pm Thursday, over 1,000 victims had been evacuated in Johor Baru, Segamat, Batu Pahat, Kota Tinggi and Kluang. The Meteorological Services Department has also upgraded its heavy rain warning from orange to red for Kelantan, Terengganu and northern Pahang, and advised the people to be on alert for floods.
The red stage warning refers to tropical storm or typhoon with sustained wind speed of at least 60kmph accompanied by moderate to heavy rain, while orange stage means moderate monsoon rain is occurring and expected to continue for several hours.
A bridge from Labis to Segamat near Sungai Karas has been cut off and was accessible only to heavy vehicles.
Johor Police Chief Dep Comm Datuk Hussin Ismail said that police had opened their 24-hour flood operations room as of 8am on Thursday.
“We are prepared for the floods and all our men are on standby,” he said.
State Women, Family and Community Development Committee chairman Dr Robia Kosai said that the Welfare Department had already sent out food and emergency supplies to all districts as of Wednesday.
“The supplies have even been sent out to the islands off Mersing and interior areas like Kampung Peta in Endau-Rompin,” she confirmed.
For more information, the public can contact the police hotline at 07) 221-6393 and the Fire and Rescue Department hotline at 07) 224-7444.
The Meteorological Services Department also issued a first category warning on strong winds and rough seas for the coastal waters off Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, east Johor, Sarawak and Sabah. The first category warning shows strong northesterly winds of 4050kmph with waves up to 3.5m.
Hundreds in Johor evacuated as flooding fears rise
Authorities in two states on full alert as heavy rain tipped to continue
Straits Times 7 Dec 07;
JOHOR BARU - HUNDREDS of people on the outskirts of Johor Baru and surrounding areas were evacuated yesterday from their homes as continuous rainfall since Wednesday night flooded five districts.
More than 1,000 people have been evacuated in Johor Baru, Segamat, Batu Pahat, Kota Tinggi and Kluang. Segamat is in north Johor while the other districts are in the central and southern parts of the Malaysian state.
The authorities are on full alert in Johor and Pahang. The two states suffered widespread flooding after heavy rain last December and January, with 110,000 people evacuated.
Those floods caused damage estimated at more than RM100 million (S$43 million).
A resident of Masai, Mr Arbain Wahab, 67, said he had not expected the water to rise so quickly as the rain was not that heavy on Wednesday morning.
'The water suddenly came up to my chest level...there was no time to save many things,' he said.
Social welfare officer Manayi Ibrahim was quoted as saying by the Bernama news agency that eight relief centres had been opened in Johor Baru, with two more in Kota Tinggi.
The Malay-language Utusan Malaysia daily said more than 1,000 families living in low-lying areas had been warned they might be evacuated if the rain continued.
The Meteorological Services Department has issued a 'red' alert to residents in Johor and southern Pahang as weather forecasts predicted torrential rain for three days starting from yesterday.
It also upgraded its heavy-rain warning from 'orange' to 'red' for the northern states of Kelantan, Terengganu and northern Pahang.
The red alert is the highest level in a three-stage warning system.
The red alert refers to tropical storms or typhoons with sustained wind speeds of at least 60kmh together with moderate to heavy rain, while 'orange' refers to moderate monsoon rain.
Meteorological Services Department deputy director-general Che Gayah Ismail said: 'Such heavy rain can cause floods. However, it may not be as bad as last year's floods.'
Johor Civil Defence Department director Che Othman Hussin said rescue teams had been deployed to monitor the situation in flooded areas.
'We are ready for the possibility of floods, and we can deploy our teams at any time,' he was quoted as saying by Utusan Malaysia.
Johor police chief Hussin Ismail said police opened a 24-hour flood operations room yesterday.
'We are prepared for the floods, and all our men are on standby,' he said.
Meanwhile, residents in low-lying areas in Sarawak have been told to prepare for the possibility of floods between Dec 22 and 29.
Bernama also reported that Sarawak has placed 6,000 rescue officers on standby, identified 584 temporary relief centres that could shelter more than 200,000 people and prepared more than 1,000 boats and 3,410 life jackets.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FROM THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
