Six months of rainfall recorded in five days in the east coast states

KUALA LUMPUR: Months of average rainfall within five days in the east coast states have resulted in severe flooding that was beyond expectations, says the Prime Minister.

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the higher average rainfall took place between Nov 26 and 30, forcing a huge number of people in Kelantan and Terengganu to be evacuated.

He said recorded rainfall at the Irrigation and Drainage Department stations in Tanah Merah and Tumpat, for example, exceeded 116.7cm of rain in just five days.

“According to the Malaysian Meteorological Department (Metmalaysia), the reading (in Kelantan) was at 144.2cm, which is an extraordinarily high level of rainfall.

“In Terengganu, Metmalaysia’s Besut station recorded 176.1cm of rain during the same period.

“Overall, the rainfall was at 134.9cm, which is far beyond expectations,” he told the Dewan Rakyat during the Prime Minister Question Time.

Anwar also said the government is preparing for a monsoon surge, which is expected to start from Dec 8 to 14 in the eastern part of the peninsula.

The Prime Minister expressed his gratitude to enforcement agencies and local authorities for flood relief efforts throughout the week.

“A total of 80,000 civil servants were involved in the operations which comprised federal and state governments, as well as district authorities.

“Government-linked companies, private sectors and non-governmental organisations also joined in to assist the victims,” he said.

Anwar said with the floodwaters receding, Skuad Insan Madani has been on the ground to assist the victims with the post-flooding cleaning efforts.

“I thank all Malaysians from various backgrounds who came forward to help out during the disaster,” he added.