Malaysia: Water levels reach worrying heights

HEMANANTHANI SIVANANDAM The Star 1 Dec 15;

PETALING JAYA: Water levels in several rivers nationwide have reached worrying points with alerts being issued in six states.

The Drainage and Irrigation Department’s online flood information website, which provides up to date data on river water levels, indicated that warnings have been issued to relevant authorities in Perak, Penang, Selangor, Johor, Kelantan and Sabah.

The website also noted that the water level in Sungai Golok in Rantau Panjang, Kelantan, was 9.58m, exceeding the dangerous level of 9m as of 4pm yesterday.

The normal water level for Sungai Golok is 5m. Anything above 9m constitutes “danger”.

The National Flood Monitoring Centre’s Water Resources Management and Hydrology Division assistant director Mohd Hazri Moh Khambali said the water level in Kelantan is rising due to the heavy rain.

“We alerted authorities on Sunday evening even before the reading at Sungai Golok reached the dangerous level,” he said.

At the Sg Juru station in Penang, the water level stood at 1.02m as of 4pm, almost double the reading of its normal level of 0.5m.

Mohd Hazri said the rise in water level in Sg Juru was due to the two- hour downpour on Sunday evening.

In Perak, the water level at the Kuala Kenderong station as of 4pm stood at 112.17m, well above the normal level of 111.50m for that area.

In Selangor, the Sungai Kuyoh station in Seri Kembangan and Sungai Kelang in Kampung Jawa were also above normal levels as of 5pm yesterday.

The Sungai Kuyoh station reading was 38.8m (normal level 36.5m) while the Sungai Kelang reading was 4.21m, above the normal level of 3m.

It was also the same in Kg Murni Jaya station in Johor, and the Stapang B and Selangau B stations in Sabah.