Flooding in Johor: Worst flood in years

Nelson Benjamin, Austin Camoens and Yee Xiang Yun The Star 1 Feb 11

LABIS: Heavy rainfall over the past six days has caused massive flooding in all 10 districts in the state displacing more than 30,000 people to about 200 relief centres state-wide.

At least two fatalities have been recorded and millions of ringgit in losses to property and livestock.

Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman said Segamat, Johor Baru and Kluang were the worst-hit areas and the bad weather was expected to continue on until today.

He said the rainfall was similar to the great floods which hit Johor on Dec 19, 2006.

“Previously, the heavy rainfall was only detected in Segamat but now we are seeing the same situation in most parts of the state.

“However we are more prepared now and we can open up 600 relief centres statewide if the need arises,” he said, urging the people to adhere to instructions given by the rescue personnel during evacuations.

The water level in seven rivers in the state has shown marked increase and some were above the danger levels.

Among the affected rivers are Sungai Muar, Sungai Bekok, Sungai Benut, Sungai Mengkibol, Sungai Tiram, Sungai Muar and Sungai Segamat. Water level at the Macap dam has also increased.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who was in Tenang for the by-election, took time off to visit some of the evacuees at a relief centre in Sekolah Agama Labis here yesterday.

He wants the relevant government agencies to come up with a more efficient early warning system for floods.

Muhyiddin, who is also the National Disaster Management Committee chairman, said the discussion should be carried at the National Security Council level.

“The early warning system will not only allows us to anticipate the flood, but also ensure a more efficient evacuation of flood victims and deployment of rescue assets,” he said.

The centre currently houses 830 people from 137 families.

Newly elected Tenang assemblyman Mohd Azahar Ibrahim was already up and about visiting victims at relief centres along with Abdul Ghani.

“There are about 10 relief centres housing more than 1,000 evacuees in my area,” he said.

On the two deaths reported earlier, both victims have been identified as women – one in Chaah, Segamat and the other in Kampung Rahmat, Kulaijaya.

Segamat OCPD Supt Abd Majid Mohd Ali said a 51-year old woman was traveling in a car with five other family members when the car was swept away by strong currents.

Supt Abd Majid said the car was swept about 50m away into an oil palm estate and the family members including a nine-year boy managed to hold on to the trees.

He said motorists and passers-by rushed to help them and managed to save four of the family members but could not locate the woman and her body was found about two hours later.

In Kulaijaya, a 53-year woman drowned after her four-wheel drive plunged into a river near Kampung Rahmat at 9pm on Sunday.

Kulaijaya deputy OCPD Supt Mohd Kamil Sukarni said the body was retrieved from the vehicle at 11.30pm and was taken to Kulai Hospital for postmortem.

Labis town was a sea of yellow mud on polling day on Sunday.

All access roads into the town was cut off for 10 hours after floodwaters inundated main roads leading to Segamat, Chaah and Muar.

To make matters worse, water supply was disrupted and certain areas were without electricity.

Food outlets in town were unable to cope with the huge demand of people who were stuck after the Tenang by-election.

Many of the restaurants had to turn away their customers as they had ran out of food.

Many motorists were only able to leave Labis in the wee hours of the morning after floodwaters started to recede.

Yesterday, many of the shop owners in Labis town were busy cleaning up, complaining that profits made during the by-election were washed away.

Johor Baru City Council (MBJB) has opened its 24-hour flood operation centre to monitor the situation in the Johor Baru district and co-ordinate evacuation operations.

Mayor Mohd Jaafar Awang said it also has set-up the Special Task Force unit and Quick Response Unit to assist those affected by the floods within the MBJB jurisdiction.

He singled out low-lying areas such as Kangkar Tebrau, Permas Jaya and Taman Kota Puteri as flood-prone areas and advised those living in the areas to be more vigilant and be ready to evacuated if the need arises.

For updates, call 07-2281 939 or 1300-88-0146.

Military To Mobilise All Personnel, Assets To Assist Flood Victims
Bernama 31 Jan 11;

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 31 (Bernama) -- The government has ordered the Malaysian Armed Forces to mobilise all personnel and assets to assist in operations to evacuate flood victims following the major flood occurring in at least five states and resulted in the death of three people so far.

To date, more than 8,000 people had been evacuated to flood relief centres in Johor, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang and Sabah, while the Meteorological Department had forecast continuous rain covering almost the whole country Tuesday.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said that he had asked Defence Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to mobilise the assets of the armed forces for flood evacuation operations.

He said the experience of Johor, when facing the major flood in 2006 where tens of thousands of flood victims in the state were evacuated to relief centres, was most useful in facing the flood this time around.

Muhyiddin told reporters in Labis that the flood occurring in Labis, Segamat, Kluang, Ledang and several other districts for the past two days was due to the heavy showers which he described as unusual.

In Johor, the flood had taken the lives of two women -- one in Cha'ah, Segamat and the other in Kampung Rahmat, Kulaijaya when they were trapped in their respective vehicles and were swept off by strong current last night.

In Cha'ah, Rohani Ismail, 51, drowned after the car she was driving was swept off by strong current at KM145 Jalan Johor Baharu-Seremban, said Segamat OCPD, Supt Abdul Majid Mohd Ali.

In Kulaijaya, the victim of the flood in Kampung Rahmat was identified as Aw Yoke Lin, 53, from Taman Pelangi who died after the Hilux pick-up truck she was driving was swept off by strong current into the river in the village.

Segamat was almost cut off by the flood.

A freelance photographer in Segamat, Khairil Faizi Jamian, when contacted said all roads from Segamat to Kuala Lumpur, Gemas and the southern part were cut off while the only road out of the town was through the Tun Razak Highway to Kuantan.

"The rain only stopped after five days...hope the water level will recede after this. Many banks and shops were closed because the premises were inundated. Many who wanted to return for the Chinese New Year to Singapore were still unale to do so," he said.

Reports on the flood situation could also be obtained through the web site.

"Segamat river broke it's bank yesterday evening and a big rush of water came over Segamat town. Houses near the river along Jln Sia Her Yam had water up to the top of their front gates at the peak last night. Now the water level is around the middle of their front gates."

"Most areas were under up to 6 feet of water. Now it has receded to about 1-2 feet," according to the latest report in the web site www.segamat.com.

The flood in Melaka claimed its first victim in Jasin Monday while 2,714 others were evacuated to 26 relief centres in the three districts in the state up to 4pm Monday.

The victim who was found drowned was Yusry Mohd Yusof, 40, a security guard at the water treatment plant in Kg Chinchin, in Jasin.

In Negeri Sembilan, about 1,921 residents in four districts were evacuated to relief centres Monday due to the flood.

A spokesman of the Tampin District Operations Room said 1,545 victims in the sub-district of Gemas and the Tampin district were evacuated to 13 relief centres in the two districts.

The flood in Gemas this time was worse than the one in 2006 due to the continuous rain that lasted for two days and resulting in the Sungai Muar to overflow its banks.

Pahang too was not spared by the flood when 538 people from four districts were moved to 13 relief centres, said the Head of the Pahang Public Order and Traffic Department, Supt Mohamed Fauzi Abd Rahim.

He said the victims were from 18 settlements in the districts of Rompin, Raub, Bera and Maran who were evacuated to relief centres since 2.40pm Sunday.

In Sabah, 2,742 victims were moved to relief centres in Sandakan, Beluran, Kota Marudu and Matunggong.

The Health Ministry had also set up health teams at all the evacuation centres to monitor the cleanliness of food, water and health situation.

-- BERNAMA

40,000 evacuated to relief centres as floods hit five states
The Star 1 Feb 11;

JOHOR BARU: Floodwaters have cut off communications in several towns in Johor, Negri Sembilan, Malacca, Pahang and Sabah while nearly 40,000 people were evacuated to relief centres.

So far three people were killed – two were swept away by strong currents while one fell into a pool. Another person is missing.

Thousands of commuters going back to their hometowns for the Chinese New Year holidays were disrupted by floods on trunk roads and a section of the North-South Expressway.

KTM Berhad was forced to cancel several intercity train services in Negri Sembilan and Johor.

Rohani Ismail, 51, was killed when the car she was driving was swept away by floodwaters from an oil palm plantation in Cha’ah, Johor at about 7pm.

Aw Yoke Lin, 53, from Taman Pelangi was killed when her four-wheel drive vehicle was swept into a river at Kampung Rahmat, Kulaijaya.

Some 1,426 people from 342 families have been evacuated from their homes in Kulai and have taken refuge at 11 relief centres.

“For the time being, there are sufficient supplies of food, medical aid and shelter for affected residents,” said Kulai MP Tan Sri Ong Ka Ting, adding the situation there was under control.

In Malacca, rescuers recovered the body of security guard Yusry Mohd Yusof, 40, after he fell into a water treatment plant pool at 10am in Kampung Chinchin, Jasin.

In Sabah, farmer Meriting Andi, 52, went missing as he waded a swollen Sungai Samparita in Kota Marudu to rescue his stranded children on the other side of the river bank.

The Prime Minister is expected to visit the flood-prone areas in Johor today.

A total of 29,294 people were evacuated in Johor and were housed in 200 relief centres as at 4pm yesterday, in a repeat of major floods which occurred in 2006.

Segamat has become an “island” after it was cut off by floodwaters. Police said no one can get in or out of Segamat as the roads to Muar, Johor Baru and Kuala Lumpur are under water.

A Ledang flood operations centre spokesman said four roads – Jalan Sialang-Tangkak, Jalan Gementah-Segamat, Jalan Simpang Bekoh and a stretch of the North-South Ex­­pressway near Km173 are only accessible to heavy vehicles.

Flash floods were also reported in Lahad Datu, Beluran and certain areas of Pitas, while many rural roads including those in plantations have been cut off by floods, making it difficult for vegetable farmers to send their produce to the main towns.

Mad scramble to leave Labis as floods threaten
The Star 1 Feb 11;

LABIS: It was a race against time for motorists when the trunk road from here to Yong Peng reopened to vehicles.

They literally scrambled to leave because rising waters in the river nearby threatened to flood the roads again yesterday.

Media personnel who came here to cover the Tenang by-election and campaigners made up the bulk of those rushing to leave.

Petrol kiosks were full of vehicles, mostly with outstation registration number plates, especially Selangor and the Federal Territory, waiting to fill their tanks for the “escape”.

The trunk road from Labis to Yong Peng was also full of potholes after the flood yesterday.

The signs of an impending flood were evident as flood waters from oil palm plantations lining the road was spilling over to the left lane.

The same situation affected the road from Yong Peng to Labis with water spilling over to the left lane.

But there were hardly any vehicles heading towards Labis which is the stop before Segamat.

Segamat has been the worst hit by the flood and remained inaccessible yesterday.

Journalists from Kuala Lumpur who stayed in Segamat and travelled to Labis daily to cover the by-election had to leave their belongings in Segamat.

Many left Labis for Kuala Lumpur with only the clothes they were wearing and their laptops and mobile phones.

Downpour for another week
The Star 1 Feb 11;

PETALING JAYA: More rain is expected in Johor, Negri Sembilan and Pahang for at least another week.

Besides heavy rain, thunderstorms have also been forecasted in these states.

A check with the Meteorological Department showed that wet weather was expected to last until Feb 6.