No respite up North
The unpredictable weather is worrying people in the northern states as they have been warned to brace for more rain and thunderstorms over the next few days. Flash floods hit several areas in Penang following hours of heavy rain yesterday.
GEORGE TOWN: People in the northern states should brace themselves for more rain and thunderstorms over the next few days.
The Malaysian Meteorological Department (MMD) has forecast thunderstorms until tomorrow.
The state Fire and Rescue Department operations assistant director Mohd Hafiz Hafizal Timarabin said they were prepared for the bad weather.
“The MMD usually updates us four times a day about current and upcoming weather conditions.
“The weather has been unpredictable lately so it may not be the rainy season, but for the past few weeks there have been bouts of heavy rain.
“We have made sure that we are prepared both on the island and mainland. We have our boats, four wheelers and even a threetonne lorry on standby.
“Instructions have been given to the Paya Terubong and Perak Road fire stations on the island, as well as the ones in Kepala Batas and Butterworth to make sure they are prepared with their boats and equipment,” Mohd Hafuz said.
The department’s operations officer Supt Nafis Aliff Abdullah said all their boats and four wheelers were in tip-top condition in case of an emergency.
“We are always prepared, especially at night. If we feel the weather is bad, we head out to monitor low-lying areas such as Datuk Keramat, Jalan P. Ramlee, Bagan Jermal and Hong Seng Estate, among others.
“We always have 160 firemen or 80% of our total manpower working, so there are always enough people on duty. We also have 30 boats and 23 four wheelers statewide,” he said.
Supt Nafis added that floods this time were not as bad as the Nov 4 and 5 floods last year.
State Public Works, Utilities and Flood Mitigation Committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari said many of the locations hit by flash floods in the northeast district were linked to the Sungai Pinang water catchment area.
“The problem will not be solved until the Sungai Pinang Flood Mitigation Plan is carried out. Following a discussion with the Federal Government, the flood mitigation plan has been given approval after a 20-year delay.
“We are now in the process of appointing a consultant for detailed design before appointing the contractor,” he said in a statement.
Zairil urged the people to be patient, as the infrastructure project of such a scale would take time.
Penang Welfare, Caring Society and Environment Committee chairman Phee Boon Poh said the state made multiple preparations, including making sure that relief centres were ready and the delivery of more boats to voluntary firemen.
“Masjid Hashim Yahya in Jalan Perak was among the relief centres opened yesterday to accommodate eight flood victims.”
Flash floods hit several areas in Penang after heavy rain throughout the night and into the wee hours of yesterday morning.
The state was hit by widespread floods on Nov 4 and 5 last year, resulting in the evacuation of 12,559 people and the loss of seven lives.